Cali 2015

[49north]

Which is better ? S Lake Tahoe or Mammoth Lakes ? Or both. I'm in Reno , headed south , no particular agenda . Tks

[Starsekr]

Reno to Carson City, spend a day their at the Nevada State museum and the Nevada Train museum. Detour through Virginia City on your way to Carson. (Gas up in Carson City, gas can be a lot more expensive South in the mountains). Carson City to South Lake Tahoe, have lunch in Harvey's Casino, go up to the top and enjoy the view. If its running, ride the ski lift up Heavenly Valley resort, great views. Drive US 50 toward Sacramento, take US 89 south to Markleeville, go to Grover Hot Springs State Park <bring your swim suit>.
Follow 89 south to US395 just south of Topaz Lake, pretty views along the Walker River into Bridgeport, CA. Places to camp along the river. South of Bridgeport, HWy 270 is a hard road to the old ghost town of Bodie, CA. now a California State park. look it up, might have irregular hours. Camping there too I think, at the top of the Conway Summit on the right is a good road to Virginia Lakes. Beautiful Area.

Dropping down to Mono lake is a cute town, Lee Vining, just out of town there is aHwy 120 which goes up Tioga Pass to the back side of Yosemite. Not a road for big RV's but not bad for a 22. Below the road is Yosemite Creek (I think) Camping in the canyon. or keep going a few miles and the Mono Craters (volcanic cones) are on your left. A little farther is the June Lake Loop, a nice byway to June Lake and back to 395, camping all over in that area. Mammoth Lake is the next thing of any size.
Mountains are beautiful this time of year, green with wonderful yellow arrowheads of Yellow aspen leaves up the canyons. Elevations are 5-6K, will start to get nippy in the early mornings. Should be just about the end of deer season. Enjoy.

[biosensai]

Starsekr has a great itinerary but most of it would be a dinghy trip for us. As far as So Tahoe vs. Mammoth . . . they are 2 very different places. I'd encourage you to do both. (Incidentally, many years back we took our 26' Class C from Carson City to Tahoe with no issues. We then headed over to Truckee and down 80.). There is a lot to see heading south on 395. While Mammoth tends to get a lot of attention, June Lake, Convict Lake & Bishop have a lot going for them also. Do be mindful of the weather. It can get bad real fast. Especially the wind coming off the Sierra.