I have never seen the fall colors near the Sierra Nevada Mountains. I have been in California my entire life and have never seen them. I know, like what have I been doing all these years? Apparently not exploring enough.
I knew I really wanted to see the fall colors especially since Andrew and I were talking about possibly moving next year. This might be my last chance for a while. So I asked my sister if she wanted to be my photographer and go on a road trip to Mammoth, and obviously she was down because she’s pretty freakin’ cool.
So off we went on our 6 hour drive to Mammoth Lakes, CA in search of the fall colors.
About the Fall Colors
So obviously in fall the colors start changing but it’s not that simple. You can’t just pick a date and hope to see them. I highly suggest following @visitmammoth on Instagram because they do an amazing job cover the fall colors.
My sister and I arrived pretty late to the fall colors party but even so late in the season, we still managed to see some beautiful yellow and orange leaves and trees. So where did we go?
Where to find them?
Convict Lake
Our first stop was Convict Lake. We stopped here after a very long day of driving. It was so pretty! You could tell we arrived at the tail end of fall because there were a lot of leaves on the ground. But it was still pretty. π
June Lake Loop
The next morning we got up bright and early to start exploring. The second day we did most our exploring and it was so pretty! We started in Mammoth and ended up all the way in Walker, CA.
June lake was kinda a doozy for us. They fall leaves were pretty much on the ground but we still took some beautiful photos and walked among the beautiful birch trees.
Walker
Walker is about an hour and 15 min drive from June Lake. So that was our next stop! There wasn’t too many instagramable spots in Walker but we did find a cute little bridge and some pretty trees. One our way out we also found a turn out with an pretty view of the West Walker River.
Lundy Canyon
After our pit stop to check out Bodie State Park, we were chasing light on the way home. We were going to do a quick stop at Mono Lake and call it good.
I remember having Lundy Canyon on my list but I felt like we were running out of daylight and what if there weren’t any fall colors. My sister suggested we just check it out. So we did and it didn’t disappoint. It was so so pretty.
Surprisingly we didn’t see a ton of color in Mammoth Lakes but I think it was because we arrived a little too late in the season. We went the first weekend in November.
So definitely plan ahead and get there early to be simply wowed. It was still such a beautiful trip and we saw some amazing scenery. I also had the best time with my sister.
If you’re interested in seeing the fall colors or if you know some other spots that I didn’t cover, here’s a map where you can get an overview of where we went and you can also add new spots. π
I hope you enjoyed this post.
xx // christine anne
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