Experience the best of Mammoth Lakes

Mammoth Lakes sits at about 2,400 metres on the eastern flank of the Sierra Nevada, inside the Long Valley Caldera, a huge crater left by an eruption some 760,000 years ago. Above the town rises Mammoth Mountain, a volcanic dome whose ski area has one of the longest snow seasons in California. To the east, beyond Long Valley, rise the White Mountains and the dry ranges of the Great Basin.

Devils Postpile National Monument, a cliff of hexagonal basalt columns, and Rainbow Falls lie a short way west, while the Lakes Basin above town holds a string of glacial lakes, including Twin Lakes, Lake Mary and Lake George. Hot Creek, with steaming springs in a gorge, and Convict Lake lie nearby, and Mono Lake, with its tufa towers, is to the north.

After the slopes, mountain-town breakfasts, pizza and craft beer fill the village, and trout from the Eastern Sierra streams is a local dish. Snow can fall from autumn into late spring, and summer brings wildflowers and trails.