Exploring California's Eastern Sierra

California Highway 395 Traces a Route Through an Outdoor Paradise

Mar 21, 2009 Janet Fullwood

If there's one drive in California that ranks as the most scenic of them all, it has to be Highway 395, tracing the eastern edge of the Sierra.

Seasoned California travelers consider the 150 miles of Highway 395 between Topaz, Nev., and Bishop, Calif., to be more rewarding to the eyes even than the much celebrated Highway 1 coastal route through the mystical region known as Big Sur. It's hard to keep your eyes on the tarmac as you drive this off-the-beaten path route tracing the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

The West of the Imagination

Highway 395 is The West in capital letters, best appreciated with your car radio tuned to a country-western station, the twangier the better. We're talking big, big scenery.To the west, an in-your-face presence as you drive along, rears a massive mountain range with jagged peaks that remain snow-capped even into August. To the east, a high plateau slopes down to a desert environment that stretches two states wide.

Sure, you can blast through in a day. But what's the point? It takes at least week to begin to do the region justice, and even that slice of time can feel confining in scenery as big and bold as this.

Highway 395 Highlights Includes Oldest Living Trees

Among Highway 395's "don't miss" highlights:

• Bodie Sate Historic Park, a genuine gold-mining ghost town with more than 100 buildings preserved in a state of "arrested decay."
• Mono Lake, a shimmering blue, unique natural attraction studded with bizarrely shaped tufa formations.
• Mammoth Lakes, a resort destination (skiing in winter, fishing and hiking in summer) that makes a great base for touring the surrounding attractions
• Devil's Postpile National Monument, a great area for hiking set off by rare, hexagonal basalt column formations
• June Lake Loop, a scenic driving route through a scenic resort area with many lodging possibilities
• Hot Creek geothermal area, set off by a series of steaming, turquoise pools open to bathers but subject to dangerous temperature shifts due to volcanic activity
• Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, home to the oldest known living trees in North America, some estimated to be a mind-boggling 4,000 years old.
• The Tioga Road, from the town of Lee Vining into Yosemite National Park (summer only).

Highway 395 is best for touring from April through October. In winter, snow storms can make the going slow, if not impossible, for vehicles without four-wheel drive. The fall foliage to be seen along the route is considered some of the best in the American West. Peak season usually coincides with the first week in October.

Whatever the season, the region bisected by Highway 395 is best known as a hiking, camping and fishing paradise. Many Californians would prefer to keep it semi-secret. The higway's location far from major cities is what keeps the Eastern Sierra off the beaten tourist path.

The copyright of the article Exploring California's Eastern Sierra in Family Travel is owned by Janet Fullwood. Permission to republish Exploring California's Eastern Sierra in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

History Haunts at Bodie Ghost Town on Hwy 395

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