Mammoth Lakes
I try to make it up to Mammoth in late summer every year. There is limited riding in the local Southern California mountains and the desert gets too hot in July and August. Mammoth is 305 miles North of Los Angeles and highway 395 provides straight and easy access. We stay at Glass Creek Campground which is just a few hundred feet off of 395 and can accommodate vehicles of any length. The facilities include fire pits, picnic benches and vault toilets. There is also a camp host. Water is available a mile away at the Crestview Rest Area. If you have a large water holding tank I suggest you make the trip up empty to keep your weight down while climbing the Sherwin Grade since it climbs from around 4300 feet to almost 8000 feet. You can fill your tank at the rest area. Most of the campsites provide plenty of shade and a few are located in open areas if you must use your satellite TV. In addition to Glasscreek, both Hartley Springs and Big Springs campgrounds offer direct access to the trails and are only a few miles away. For you full-hookup campers, there are two campgrounds in Mammoth but I don't think you can ride your OHV directly out and onto the trails.
I try to make it up to Mammoth in late summer every year. There is limited riding in the local Southern California mountains and the desert gets too hot in July and August. Mammoth is 305 miles North of Los Angeles and highway 395 provides straight and easy access. We stay at Glass Creek Campground which is just a few hundred feet off of 395 and can accommodate vehicles of any length. The facilities include fire pits, picnic benches and vault toilets. There is also a camp host. Water is available a mile away at the Crestview Rest Area. If you have a large water holding tank I suggest you make the trip up empty to keep your weight down while climbing the Sherwin Grade since it climbs from around 4300 feet to almost 8000 feet. You can fill your tank at the rest area. Most of the campsites provide plenty of shade and a few are located in open areas if you must use your satellite TV. In addition to Glasscreek, both Hartley Springs and Big Springs campgrounds offer direct access to the trails and are only a few miles away. For you full-hookup campers, there are two campgrounds in Mammoth but I don't think you can ride your OHV directly out and onto the trails.
You can ride directly out of camp at Glasscreek and head South towards Mammoth, East towards the Owens river, or North towards June and Mono lakes. The riding is mostly double wide trails and dirt roads. The dust can get pretty bad so spacing is required in order to take advantage of the great scenery. Many afternoons you will experience a short thunder storm. Gear up and get ready to ride because that little bit of rain make the trails wonderful. Mammoth has several marked loops and trails that are used for snowmobiles in the winter and OHV riders in the summer. You can find detailed trail maps on my Maps and GPS Tracks page. This map shows the OHV loops. All the trails in this area are well marked and you can get PDF versions of the Mammoth area Motor Vehicle Use Maps or buy an Inyo National Forest map. If you want to download Mammoth trails to your Garmin GPS, iPhone, or Android device, checkout California Trail Maps. They just recently added the Mammoth area to their comprehensive database of California off-road trails.
The riding South towards Mammoth is mostly wooded trails that twist and wind through the forest. If you get close to highway 395 they get a little whooped out. I would recommend that you take the short trip over to the Inyo Craters. You will need to leave your machine in the parking area and take a short hike up to the craters. You can ride all the way into town but will need to leave your machine on the dirt road (03s08) accross highway 203 from McDonald's. If you head back North on (03s08) in a few miles you will see the tunnel that takes you under highway 395. After crossing under the road head East and you will see signs for the Lookout Mountain Loop. Jump on the loop heading South-East and you will enjoy an 11 mile scenic loop that I would rate as doable for all levels of riders except maybe first time dirt bikers. I would also recommend the trip up to Bald Mountain and then continue on to Mono Lake. Take a look at my route map below.
I have several Mammoth videos and the one linked below is a combination of a couple trips. For more of my videos, check out my YouTube Channel. If you can spare 3 or 4 days, you can't go wrong exploring the many trails around Mammoth Lakes. You can even ride over to the Hot Creek Geologic Site . The water temperature does not allow swimming here but it is a great place to visit and is accessible from the trail. There are several other areas that are open to swimming. Just Google them or check out this site. If you scroll down you will see "nearby adventures", that lists the many other locations in the area that allow you to enter the hot springs. The site was free so I signed up and it is pretty cool. It allows you to search by location and adventure type.
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https://drive.google.com/open?id=1x2mvjLeK6267BXpY-pqEfkbJRQc&usp=sharing
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