This summer we decided to explore Mammoth lakes and revisit some of our favorite surrounding places. I’ll cover some travel and camping details, and list what we explored and places we visited and ate at.

Quick Camping Details

• Site: New Shady Rest Campground, sites 124 and 125 (although we mainly occupied site 124 and used 125 for parking)
• Type of camping: we dry camped with a fold out trailer
• Dates: Saturday, June 8, to Friday, June 14, 2024
• Total spent on gas (with a trailer attached): $463.92

Quick Glance Camping Menu

Our campsite was right at the beginning of downtown Mammoth, so there were lots of options to eat out and easy access to a grocery store (Vons), but I did prep the following meals at home for quick meals:

• Slow cooker pulled pork with Hawaiian rolls
• Slow cooker carnitas tacos
• Marinated Greek chicken

Other meals that were not prepped but were quick fixes:

• Hot dogs
• Burgers
• Spaghetti

Quick list of places we visited in and near Mammoth

• Mammoth Lakes (we did a look around Twin Lakes, Lake Mary, Horseshoe Lake)
• June Lake and surrounding lakes
• Lee Vining (lunch, dessert, Mobile station is always great for clean bathrooms, food, snacks, keepsakes, and gas – although the gas is pricey!)
• Bodie State Historic Park

More details on each location below.

Quick list of places we ate at

• Looney Bean Coffee
• Mammoth Brewing Company
• Hugs Ice Cream
• Giovanni’s Pizza
• Mono Cone (cash only!)

More details on each location below.

Overview of New Shady Rest Campground

We camped at New Shady Rest Campground, and booked it through the Recreation.gov app. We were a little late on booking sites this season, but I think we still got a decent site. Bathrooms were a deciding factor this time around, so we skipped a lot of the campsites that are around or on the lakes, that don’t have vaulted bathrooms. This campground is right at the entrance of town, and very close to everything (Vons, coffee shops, sports stores, etc.). It was nice, on this trip, to be close to all the amenities we made full use of. The campsite is still surrounded by pine trees and definitely plenty of outdoor/nature feeling. There was definitely some traffic noise early in the morning, but none of the boys seemed to be affected by that (to be young and a deep sleeper!).

We hauled our trailer with us, which was nice to have beds and a kitchen, but there are no hook ups at this site and we didn’t fill up the water tank before we set up the trailer, which I wish we had. The campground does have a dumpsite where we could have filled up, and will definitely remember this for future trips. It would have been nice to shower mid-week ;)

On our way into the campground, we picked up about four bundles of wood from the camp host, which was cash only.

There seems to be an infestation of some kind with a lot of the trees in the area, so lots of wood chips around the campsites from all the trees they’ve had to take down. The kids loved finding pine cones and branches, and even picked up whittling, ha!

There are also a lot of moths in the area, which are definitely harmless and didn’t bother me, until it was time to go to sleep and they kept smacking the trailer ceiling. So definitely keep your doors/screens closed during the day! Jeff and I become serious moth hunters at night!

One of the favorite activities the kids enjoyed while at the campsite was kicking their soccer ball around on the road in front of our site, so definitely plan on taking some sports equipment. We also LOVE these glow in the dark balls from the Dollar Tree. I’ll usually buy at least one or two per night for our trips – the kids love them and they’ll play with them for quite a bit each night. Our major snafu was not bringing our bikes. I had advocated for it since I read that Mammoth had great biking trails, many of which were family friendly, but I didn’t quite convey that to Jeff, and he was concerned about the space they would take up. It definitely became a running joke throughout the week because there are A LOT of bike trails, and LOTS of families on bikes. We could have rented e-bikes, which seem to be very popular, but we never got around to it. Next time, though…

Our campsite was right across from the Welcome Center, which was fun to walk to and check out.

One thing I noticed that was different about this camping trip was the crowd. The boys always make friends at our campsites (and we exchange contact information and then never follow up), but this area seems to be more for the younger traveler than families with kids. Lots of early 20s and older folks that have long ago raised their children – all out adventuring on their amazing e-bikes, ha! This is near the Pacific Crest Trail, so you also have a lot of avid hikers. It was a bit of a bummer for the kiddos to not have any kindred spirits on this trip, but it was also nice to seem them just playing with each other.

Our Camping Itinerary

Saturday: packing and travel day

I had to work all week, so we felt a bit rushed packing up and trying to leave on Saturday morning. But we were also antsy to be out of the house and on the road. We decided if we were ready to leave by 11 a.m., we would head out, and if not, we’d wait to leave until Sunday. Leaving much later than that would have us arriving and setting up after dark, and not something I was wanting to do.

I’m so thankful for my packing list (which is available on Etsy!) – it helped me stay relatively calm during a pretty frenzied morning. We ended up leaving shortly the house shortly after 11:30 a.m., and probably closer to 12 p.m. since we stopped to get In N Out before we hit the road, but we were passed the point of no return at that point.

Although we had several pee stops, generally the boys are great travelers and we did great. Given our late arrival time, we decided for a quick dinner stop at El Pollo Loco in Bishop, CA, so we wouldn’t be hangry when we pulled into our site and had to set up.

We arrived at our campsite around 7:30 p.m. with plenty of sunlight still available. Unfortunately we had some major electrical hookup issues with our trailers, so we couldn’t get the side pull out to work, so it was pretty tight quarters inside for the first couple days. Not to mention, we couldn’t reach the second bed (which we didn’t need until my in-laws joined us a couple days later) or the pantry. Not being able to reach the pantry/closet was a pain, and we ended up folding out that side of the trailer so we could jump in through that fold out (with a ladder). Not ideal, but it worked. Our oldest boy was stressing for a bit, so I had to keep reinforcing that although not ideal, we still had a place to sleep and were in a beautiful place. Everything else would either work out or we’d make do.

Jeff went to a couple places that night to look for the fuses we needed to fix our problem, but none of the places had the exact fuse we needed.

Since our fridge wasn’t working at that point, I had to move all of our food into the cooler.

Daily miles and gas: 334 miles, $188

Sunday: Troubleshooting and Mammoth Lakes

That same shopping center has a store called DIY Home Center, so we checked there for the fuse. We grabbed a few, and enjoyed watching the in store pet: a cat!

We swung by Kittridge Sports to get our fishing licenses and to get some info on where to go fishing. The guy that helped us was super friendly: he gave us a map and highlighted some areas that he recommended we try. Since we were staying there all week, it made the most sense to get the annual license for Jeff and I, since it’s basically the same price as a 10-day license (the other option being a two-day license, for half of the cost). Kids under 16 don’t need one, so at least we saved on that!

We headed back to our campsite where Jeff tried out the fuses, but they still kept blowing. We made lunch at our site (grilled chicken kebabs that I had marinated at home), and packed up to head up the road and view the lakes.

We drove up Lake Mary Road, and I was blown away by the view we go to Twin Lakes Vista. It’s definitely worth pulling over to the viewing area on the right – there’s a convenient parking lot to pull into. The waterfall was in full effect, the lake looked beautiful, and we even crossed the street to view the river under a walking bridge. We piled back into the car and then took the turnout on the right for the scenic drive to Twin Lakes. Jeff and I realized this is where we camped during our honeymoon. There was a little bridge to cross the lake, where we spotted a patch of snow, so we decided to check that out.

So glad we did! The boys played in the snow for a bit, and we stumbled upon Lake Forest Chapel, where Jake decided to officiate an impromptu wedding for Jeff and I (it was as adorable as it sounds!).

After this we followed Twin Lakes Loops Road back out to to Lake Mary Road, and continued down that to the Twin Falls Overlook (stay to the right on Lake Mary Road). I enjoyed the view from from Twin Lakes Vista, but it was cool to see the rushing water and the expansive view of the lake. We continued down Lake Mary Road all the way to Horseshoe Lake, which I read had a good beach. The trees in the parking lot are all dead and it looked a little apocalyptic, so we didn’t even get out. We went back down Lake Mary Road, and did a loop around Lake Mary, which is BEAUTIFUL.

We found the restrooms that are located across the lake, and the boys again found a patch of snow that was worth playing in. We scoped out a couple fishing areas for the following day, and decided to head back down the mountain for some pre-dinner snacks at Mammoth Brewing Company.

It was a little windy outside, so we skipped the outdoor patio (which looked very nice!) and instead requested seating upstairs. The vibe was a little weird, and maybe it was the time of day also (post-lunch, pre-dinner), but in retrospect I might have preferred to brave the wind and sit outside. Jeff and I grabbed a beer, and we ordered fries and brownie bites. It was all delish! We also got cookies for the boys (they come with the kids meal, and when I asked if I could just buy three cookies without the kids meal, they just gave us the cookies for FREE!). I asked if the cookies had any nuts, and was informed they have a nut free facility, which I don’t think I’ve encountered before. Jake is the only one allergic to nuts, but it’s always in the back of our mind, and I gotta say, it was such a nice feeling to have a 100% knowledge that there was ZERO chance for any kind of cross contamination.

When we got back to our campsite, we decided to explore the trail that runs along our campsite. It follows the Sawmill Cuttoff road, and it was SO pretty. It’s about a mile each way. There was no one else around and we were slightly worried about bears, so we kept the kids pretty close, but Josh really enjoyed riding his razor on the trail (bikes would have been the chefs kiss, ha!). We stopped when we hit a skate park, which was a huge highlight for Josh. The smile on his face was pretty incredible. And the view for the rest of us was pretty spectacular. We did hear some thunder while at the skatepark, and saw some ominous clouds moving in, so we decided to head back to our campsite.

That night we fixed burgers and hot dogs on Jeff’s grill – I was starting to re-arrange our meal plan based on not having a fridge and trying to prioritize food based on what was going to last longer.

Daily miles and gas: we stayed pretty local this day, so I think we only drove about twenty miles between our trip into town and up and down to the lakes.

Monday: Fishing Along Lake Mary

I had prepped pancake batter at home before we left, so I fixed them on Monday morning, just adding a squashed banana to the mix (it’s the only way we eat pancakes at home). Note to self: DO NOT FIX PANCAKES WHILE CAMPING. I always forget this, and try to make pancakes on every camping trip, but they just don’t come out right at the higher elevations. They don’t cook quite right. If you have tips, I’m all eyes and ears!

After breakfast, we prepped to head out for a fishing excursion, and I packed us some sandwiches for lunch so we wouldn’t have to leave to get lunch. After a few years of camping and family trips, I feel like I finally have this packed lunch thing nailed down. I use one ziplock bag for all of our sandwiches, and label everyone’s sandwich on the paper towel I use to wrap their sandwich (I know this is ridiculous, but everyone takes their sandwich a little different. Jake: cucumber and mayo. Josh: mustard and meat. Jonny: meat and mayo, maybe cucumber. Jeff and Alex: meat, mayo, mustard, cheese – possibly different cheese/meat combos for each of us, based on what we have available). Folks: I am to please! I used a separate ziplock bag to fill with ice, and that was my ice pack. I intentionally bring an insulated lunch bag so I can pack up our food. The large ziplock I use for our sandwiches then functions as my trash bag. Dual use!

Folks, I’ll say it now: the fishing was a HUGE disappointment for us on this trip (and every prior camping trip). I think we have bad juju or something. We tried a couple different spots that had been recommended to us, and got nothing. Zilch. Zero. Nada. I think Jake got one bite, but that was it. The most frustrating part was that there WERE fish – we could see them, they just weren’t biting. Pretty sure they were mocking us.

We decided to ease our disappointment with ice cream, and headed to Hugs in the Mammoth Village. I really appreciate when there’s a combo of unique flavors (like strawberry melon and banana chocolate chip) and regular flavors (chocolate chip, chocolate, vanilla). Our kids are always a little let down when they’re excited for ice cream and all the flavors are funky flavors. Jeff really enjoyed the banana chocolate chip, and Jake was a huge fan of the strawberry melon. I think Jonny got chocolate and I got chocolate chip – both were great.

I fixed some quick and easy carnitas tacos for dinner – I had made the carnitas just before we left, and had pre-chopped cilantro and onion (which always makes the fridge/cooler stink, but saves me some work…). Love these quick, but yummy, meals while camping!

Tuesday: June Lake and Surrounding Lakes

We decided to drive the twenty minutes or so to June Lake and see if we’d have better fishing there. The employee at Kittredge recommended Gull Lake or Silver Lake for fishing. Both of those are in the June Lake loop: Gull Lake is just passed June Lake, and Silver Lake is a few miles further back. We decided to start with Silver lake since it was the furthest back, and then check out Gull Lake and June Lake.

We pulled over in a parking lot towards the middle of Silver Lake and walked down a quick little trail to the water, and HOLY MOSQUITOS BATMAN. I mean…I’m now used to mosquitos back home in Orange County, but this was something else. They were hovering all around us as soon as we got close to the water. We turned right back around and got back in the truck, ha!

There was a promising section further down the lake, but it was packed. There were people fishing EVERYWHERE, and that just didn’t seem like it would work in our favor. We decided to head back towards Gull Lake, but turned around rather than continuing down the loop, since that takes you all the way around and back out to the 395. We got to see some pretty cool waterfalls on our way back!

We weren’t sure where to go around Gull Lake, and we ended up pulling into a parking lot by a playground – I think it’s the Gull Lake Community Park. It was a good stop for some of us to change into shorts, get sunblocked, for all of us to use the restroom, and the boys played on the playground for a little bit. The shore fishing seems difficult because there are reeds all along the shore in this area – I really think next time we need to rent a boat to head out into the lakes if we want to catch anything.

We headed back towards June Lake, and again: we were at a loss as to where to do any effective shore fishing around the lake, so we decided to just go to the beach. Parking is $10 for the beach access. We had brought our chairs and packed a lunch, but didn’t have any sun cover, so we were happy to have cloud cover for most of the time we were there. The boys waded into the water and took turns coming out to eat their sandwich (which we had to eat quickly before some weird gnats got on them, ha!).

The scenery here is absolutely stunning: looking out into the lake, with snow capped mountains in the foreground. I was a happy gal! The boys loved playing with an inflatable in the water, and I got a little reading time in. The water along the beach is shallow for quite a bit, so the boys were able to adventure pretty far without having to get fully in.

There was some weird yellow stuff floating in the water that I was concerned about at first (is it some weird fungi??), and I kept telling Jonny to stop playing with (because of course, he was sitting ALL up in it, and trying to gather and collect it). Thankfully someone nearby heard me saying something about it, and he informed me (very nicely) that it’s just pollen from the pine trees! Carry on, Jonny Boy, carry on.

We decided to head up to Lee Vining. We fueled up at the famous Mobil station (clean bathrooms, lots of food and snacks, and great place to get some mementos), then got ice cream at Mono Cone. I felt a bit overwhelmed with the ice cream options and feeling like I didn’t know the right lingo to order correctly (I definitely didn’t, and it showed on the cashier’s fairly impatient face). But alas, we got our cones, and sat on the back patio, which was lovely. Jake raved about his strawberry shake. Bathrooms were nice and clean, so took that opportunity as well. Heads up: this place is CASH ONLY.

We drove down Hwy 120 to check out some of our favorite fishing spots, but again, no dice. Everyone was a bit tired, so we called it a day. Jonny and I enjoyed some reading time while the boys tried to fish.

We headed back to our campsite and waited for Jeff’s parents and nephew to join us. That night we had pulled pork sandwiches (also prepped at home), with a Classic Suddenly Salad and a can of baked beans (and seriously, I went to Vons almost every day…I was NOT on my A-game for planning side dishes on this trip).

That night I had the WORST panic/anxiety attacks I’ve ever experienced. I experienced this for the first time in 2020 on the eve of the pandemic, and then right before traveling to Guatemala with the kids last year. I experienced it again before our trip to Tulum in May, but this was something else. Maybe it’s something that just comes with age, but I. DON’T. LIKE IT. No, thank you. Please go away. I felt like I was up all night spiraling in all sorts of directions, and my mantra was “I’m fine. Everyone’s fine.” I had to work so hard to remind myself that what I was freaking out about was so illogical…but alas, the mind does what it wants. I really, really hope this isn’t a new normal for me.

Daily mileage and gas: approximately 165 miles

Wednesday: Lake Mary and June Lake

We tried Lake Mary again for fishing, now with the full gang, and no one got a thing! Jonny and I enjoyed some more lounging and reading while everyone did their best to catch a fish, or unhook their lines.

We went to The Stove for lunch, which was good. Although it was a bit warm inside, the service was great and everyone enjoyed their food. Within our party we tried the tacos, tuna melt, club sandwich, and kids chicken fingers. I’d love to check out their breakfast next time. I’m super bummed I didn’t get to try one of their pies – they looked so good!

After heading back to camp and packing up, we headed back to June Lake. But this time we brought the canopy! I must confess that I find beach trips exhausting: lugging everything to and fro, sand in everything, worried about getting sunburned, etc. BUT, snowcapped mountains and boys having a blast makes it all worth it. The canopy was a challenge because it was quite windy, and although there were plenty of rocks to try to hold it down, the winning feature was eventually a piece of string from one of our rafts, that we used to tie the canopy to a rock. We inflated our two-person raft and the boys had so much fun paddling on it. Jonny walked out a couple times with us, and then enjoyed chilling by the shore.

We had dinner at Giovanni’s that night. There are A LOT of pizza places in Mammoth – something we noticed when we first got there. So Jeff did some research to see what was the best one, and Giovanni’s was the winner. Although our waitress seemed to be having a bad night, and Jeff’s beer was passed the “enjoy by” date by a couple years, the pizza was delicious! Jake ordered buttered noodles and I literally had to DRAIN the butter off of his plate.

We took it pretty easy for the rest of the evening; I think we might have even skipped the campfire this night!

Thursday: Bodie Historic Park, Lee Vining

We really wanted the boys to see Bodie Ghost Town, so we had a fairly quick breakfast, threw the camp chairs in the truck so we could attempt to fish later, and headed out. It’s about an hour drive from Mammoth to Bodie, and what feels the longest is probably the last three miles. The road is unpaved and it. Is. Rough. I’ve been to Bodie twice before; I think I have one more visit in me to catch the Sawmill Tour, but after that, I think it could be a one and done thing (or, you know…a four and done thing). We’ve never timed our visit right to catch the tour, so you know…you like at some old buildings and you’re pretty much done. It’s usually pretty hot, so it’s not like we stay there for hours. Don’t get me wrong: it IS cool to walk around the town and imagine what life was like back in the day, but it’s not a long visit. The drive into Bodie is pretty, though: some rolling hills, usually a flock or two of sheep. Driving out was extra pretty with the snow capped mountains to look at.

I’m pretty sure the Saw Mill Tour is offered daily at 11 a.m. We missed it by half an hour or so, and then we all got hangry, so it was time to go! Although you can pay for the park entrance fees with a card, the self-guided brochure is cash only ($3).

We went back to Mono Cone in Lee Vining, which my in-laws and nephew were really looking forward to. They think the Ortega burger is the best one! I got a regular burger, and it was also good. We had to keep an eye out for a table this time – it was pretty crowded! While you’re there, you can also check out the Upside Down House, which is just down the block.

We made one more attempt to fish near Lee Vining, but eventually called it quits. We did get to enjoy the scenery from one of our favorite campgrounds in that area, although there are really too many mosquitoes and ants and not-clean-bathrooms for us to camp there with kids.

We stopped by Vons (again!) when we got back to Mammoth, and I fixed a pretty simple spaghetti dinner. We had originally planned to do the Devil’s Postpile and Rainbow Falls hike on Friday, but after reading the logistics involved (can only get there by shuttle, running every x minutes at y locations, bring lots of water and sunblock), we decided….we were ready for our own beds and showers at home, ha! So…we did all the things on Thursday night: finished our s’more fixings, opened all the glow in the dark balls, and the boys used these fire color-changing packets that Josh recognized at the Mobile station from some YouTube video.

Jeff, his nephew, and the boys had such a great time playing catch with the remaining glow in the dark balls. Those things are always so much fun!

Daily miles: approximately 260 miles; we filled up at the Mobile station and spent $85 on gas

Next Time

Along with the Devils Postpile and Rainbow Falls, here are a few other things I had on my list but didn’t work out on this trip:

• Silver Lake Resort for lunch
• Convict Lake
• Parker Lake hike

New and/or Favorite Items

Jonny was really upset that he didn’t have a CamelBak like the boys, so I ordered one at the last minute for him. These would have probably been great if we did any real hiking on this trip…but we didn’t. I filled them up one day in the hopes of going on a hike, but we really just wore them to the Visitor Center and…that was it. I, however, used my hydration backpack every day. It has enough space to carry some stuff in it, and I didn’t have to worry about carrying a separate water bottle.

Since we were dry camping, I used my collapsible buckets and collapsible drying rack to wash all of our dishes. These are so great to travel with!

Related travel/camping posts:

• Camping in Big Sur
• Cabin getaway in Idyllwild
• Camping in Bryce and Zion
• Camping near Sequoias and Yosemite
• Camping hacks

Next up: our Memorial day weekend trip to Tulum, Mexico!

Also: I never blogged about our Spring break trip to Guatemala in 2023! Probably because I was in shell shock for a while, but now I can look back and admire all the good things from that trip, so I’ll try to get that together soon-ish.

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