Discover the Lee Vining Creek Trail!
October 1st, 2009 by Elin, Communications Coordinator
Beautiful aspens line the Lee Vining Creek Trail. Photo by Arya Degenhardt.
This Mono-logue post comes to you from Intern Claire Skinner.
Fall is a magical time in the Mono Basin—sunny days, crisp weather, and lots of fall color. Lundy Canyon and the June Lake Loop are wonderful places to watch quaking aspens shedding their green for leaves of yellow, orange, and red.
It’s also the perfect time to discover the lovely Lee Vining Creek Trail—Lee Vining’s best kept secret! Aspens grow abundantly along the southern end of the trail—a moderate, 1.6 mile ramble along Lee Vining Creek. This scenic walk starts at the south end of Lee Vining across from the Mono Market and ends at the US Forest Service Visitor Center. The trail begins in lush, riparian (streamside) habitat, and follows the gurgling stream closely until the landscape transforms into desert scrub with vistas of Mono Lake below.
Watch for rainbow trout swimming in the creek’s swift waters and white-tailed jackrabbits bounding through sagebrush. Look for Clark’s Nutcrackers chattering in tall Jeffrey pines and fence lizards sunning themselves in the last of summer sun.
Before you begin your hike, make sure to stop by the Mono Lake Committee Information Center & Bookstore to pick up the Lee Vining Creek Trail brochure. Heading downstream with that helpful brochure in hand, you can take time to personally observe a recovering creek ecosystem—one whose health and permanent existence is vital to the future of Mono Lake. Helpful interpretive panels also dot the trail. Enjoy your walk!
