Mammoth Lakes

[mustangglp]

I am planing a trip to mammoth lakes the first or second week of august and would your guys opinion on camping and anything else i need to know about ?

1 Must able to ride from camp
2 would like to do some fishing near the campground
3 would like to dump or stay at a ohv friendly campground with either hook ups or a dump station for the last night so I can dump for the drive home.
4 Any OHV friendly business like restaurants or whatever ( we prefer to patronize businesses that support our hobby )

It looks like Deadmans creek campground would be my first choice how much room is for my trailer? followed by Glass creek or big springs?
how crowded will they like be if i get there on a friday night? would prefer to get there thursday depending on work
I've been to mammoth but not Atv riding or towing a 5th wheel
Thanks Gary

[porknbeanr]

TRIPLE8 wrote:
Hi, camp at Browns campground or Glass Creek in between Mammoth and June lake. Its all dry camping but you can dump at Mammoth rv resort or shady rest campground. plenty of fishing nearby.

I have not camped at Glass Creek but have driven through in a car. It is beautiful and friends say there is a ton of riding and you are close to several small lakes. They take their Kayaks on top of their SideXSides.

[nayther]

Happytraveler wrote:
We usually stay in Lee Vining (Mono Vista RV Park) Copper Mountain
Lee Vining California Off-Road Trails We're not that far from Mammoth or Yosemite. We go to Saddleback Lake for hiking. We take a boat ride to where were going to hike and they pick us up at a certain time. We sometimes go to Bodie and Topaz Lake for the day. My husband likes to ride his bike so I drop him off at June Lake Loop and he rides back to the campground. We fish the Tioga Creek on Tioga Pass, Lundy Lake, Rush Creek and Tioga Lake.
As far as Restaurants we like Roberto's Mexican Cafe and the Breakfast Club in Mammoth. Eagles Landing and Silver Lake Cafe in June Lake Loop.

We need to venture up to Lee Vining area next time, we're in a rut at Brown's. Didn't fish much so what's the use of staying there if you don't fish? As said, awesome riding if you like fire roads, they keep closing the good stuff (gee, so surprised.......NOT). Overall you cannot beat the eastern Sierras, way too much to do and see and so beautiful.

[cbigham]

Not to give away too many of my Mammoth secrets, but keep in mind:

-You can dump for free at the water treatment plant in town and get fresh water. One if the best dumps I've seen.
-Hartley Springs I think is a better campground. More quiet, less dust, less riding, less people, bigger trees. We get the 40 ft diesels in there a-ok.
-Riding out of Browns is good. On of my favorite loops goes thru the Bald Mountain area, up the 1s11 thru the top to the Saw Mill Meadow area and back down thru the radio tower to Watterton Rd...which brings you back thru to Brown's. Beautiful and epic a ride as ever there is.
nice, isolated campsites exist off the 1s06 as well, heck, many places, Google and look at sat photos. Where u see an Rv, u can probably go.
-Fishing, my wife is the fisherperson, not me but has tremendous luck at Silver lake where the water comes into the lake. We ate good.

Love it there, we did 15 days ending July 2 then left for Trinity Center. (Another awesome area) Saw the races too. Enjoy

Chuck

[mustangglp]

Thanks for all the great replies!
Browns by the owens looks like it would awesome for fishing after checking it out on google earth!:)

Right now i'm thinking camping at glass creek and riding over to deadmans creek and hartley springs to ck it out for next time.
Then staying the last day or two at browns for fishing.

I did check with the forestry website and they do have fire restrictions

Probably won't need to dump if I do it would just be the grey tank.
Thanks Gary

[Happytraveler]

We usually stay in Lee Vining (Mono Vista RV Park) Copper Mountain
Lee Vining California Off-Road Trails We're not that far from Mammoth or Yosemite. We go to Saddleback Lake for hiking. We take a boat ride to where were going to hike and they pick us up at a certain time. We sometimes go to Bodie and Topaz Lake for the day. My husband likes to ride his bike so I drop him off at June Lake Loop and he rides back to the campground. We fish the Tioga Creek on Tioga Pass, Lundy Lake, Rush Creek and Tioga Lake.
As far as Restaurants we like Roberto's Mexican Cafe and the Breakfast Club in Mammoth. Eagles Landing and Silver Lake Cafe in June Lake Loop.

[nayther]

I did dump while at Brown's since we had company and couldn't go a full week without dumping the black and refilling (grey on the ground is acceptable there). Right across the hwy from the airport is the road up to convict and there's a dump station on the left about 2 miles up with fresh water fill as well, all free. I understand there is pumping service available at Brown's but never inquired, someone said they saw the honey dipper one day but we were out and about.

[fly-boy]

nayther wrote:

fly-boy wrote:
They have a dump station and water at Brown's-

It can get a little windy in the afternoon at Brown's but it always dies down in the late afternoon- The best part about Brown's is that there is no dust when it blows unlike a lot of the other spots in the Mountains.

Just stayed there for five days over the 4th of July and am headed back in August.

Where's a dump station at Brown's? I went across the hwy to the FS dump, its free.

I was there over the 4th too. Wish I would have known, we were camped out in the middle, flying yellow/black chekered Viewfinder flags. Hap Hazard came by for a frosty one one day and we had a nice chat on land use issues. Yes it blows every afternoon. Owens river at your doorstep and ride right out of camp to anywhere you want.

Maybe I am wrong but I thought they had a dump station up by the showers/office area- A call may be in order. I always dump when I get home. I do know for certain they have water.

Would have been cool to meet- Was in a black dually with an all white WW trailer in the middle area of the park- Ready to get back up there next month!

[Hap_Hazard]

Here is a reply I just sent back to Gary regarding camping in this area, hope it helps others. There are many other fine locations to stay at around this end of the county.



You have lots of options in the area you wish to stay. Deadman Creek is nice, shaded, and very popular. It is a ways (maybe 3-4 miles) off the highway and makes going and coming to & from town for other visits a little more difficult.

Big Springs Campground is nice and shaded (in the canyon) but has many slopes in this area. The sites are a little smaller. The flat areas have less shade but appear more open. The Owens River runs right next to the campground and has great fishing. Numerous trails heading out from camp.

Two other suggestions;

1) the next turn off north of Deadman (on the left) is Glass Creek Campground. Lots of shaded areas, flat, just a couple 100 feet from the highway (but the highway is not seen or heard). Trails go in every direction from camp, and half way between Mammoth & June Lake.

2) Hartly Springs Campground. Again a little ways off the highway (3-4 miles). Lots of shade and flat. Lots of trails from the camp site.

Any of these should work fine for you.

Fire restrictions are normally that you have a fire ring. They don’t want fires in the open forest where it is also legal to camp. As far as I know all these sites have the required legal fire rings. You should also know the fire restrictions vary from day-to-day, with factors like temps, humidity, winds, and air quality playing into the restriction. As far as I know there are no fire restrictions currently in place but check with the USFS closer to your arrival. (We do currently have smoke in the air from a fire on the other side of the Sierra’s near Fresno.)

Hap

[nayther]

fly-boy wrote:
They have a dump station and water at Brown's-

It can get a little windy in the afternoon at Brown's but it always dies down in the late afternoon- The best part about Brown's is that there is no dust when it blows unlike a lot of the other spots in the Mountains.

Just stayed there for five days over the 4th of July and am headed back in August.

Where's a dump station at Brown's? I went across the hwy to the FS dump, its free.

I was there over the 4th too. Wish I would have known, we were camped out in the middle, flying yellow/black chekered Viewfinder flags. Hap Hazard came by for a frosty one one day and we had a nice chat on land use issues. Yes it blows every afternoon. Owens river at your doorstep and ride right out of camp to anywhere you want.

[fly-boy]

They have a dump station and water at Brown's-

It can get a little windy in the afternoon at Brown's but it always dies down in the late afternoon- The best part about Brown's is that there is no dust when it blows unlike a lot of the other spots in the Mountains.

Just stayed there for five days over the 4th of July and am headed back in August.

[Hap_Hazard]

Check with the US Forest Service in Bishop to determine if the dump station at Rock Creek (across from French Camp) is available. It's free and open 24/7 if they've opened it. It's less than 1/4 mile off Highway 395 at the Tom's Place intersection. If it is open then camp anywhere you wish.

Hap

[TRIPLE8]

Hi, camp at Browns campground or Glass Creek in between Mammoth and June lake. Its all dry camping but you can dump at Mammoth rv resort or shady rest campground. plenty of fishing nearby.

[mustangglp]

Does Brown's have dump station it looks like it could be windy?

[BobWanderer]

Y-Guy wrote:

BobWanderer wrote:
Things are so tight they use a forklift to park your trailer.

Really? That's a first, never heard of that being done at campground, wild.

YEP
I am well equipped to back into most any place, I had a Class "A" commercial license for 25 years and was a mechanic that had to back rigs into my work stall virtually every day.

The person who was at the registration Kiosk said someone would be meeting us near the campsite. I went down the aisle and sure enough there he was with a forklift. I told him that I could back into the stall no problem, nope, we "assist" everyone and park trailers with a forklift. I had to drop the trailer in the middle of the road and he took over from there.
NOT a big deal to Us, but I am sure I could have backed into the stall, unhooked and been out of the road much quicker. My only complaint is how close the sites are, other than that it was a nice place. D W is very picky about restroom/showers, but used theirs for a shower since it has much more hot water than our rig :B
I get a laugh out of many campgrounds that offer me a "pull thru" site, then I tell them to save them for the more "challenged" campers and give us a more secluded site if available.