Bishop Pass & Dusy Basin
South Lake, Bishop Creek · near Bishop · Eastern Sierra
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- strenuous
- Route type
- out-and-back
- Distance
- 12 miles
- Elevation gain
- 2,200 ft
- Time needed
- day
- Best season
- Mid-July–early October · South Lake Rd is high; snow lingers on the pass into July
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- No permit for day hikes. Overnight needs a competitive Inyo NF wilderness permit (Bishop Pass–South Lake) via recreation.gov quota. Trailhead at 9,820 ft — acclimatize first.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 1 of 5
What is here
- Features
- Chain of jewel lakes (Long, Saddlerock, Bishop) · 11,972-ft pass beneath Mts Goode & Agassiz · Glacier-carved Dusy Basin · Palisade peaks on the horizon
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- No
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- The trailhead is already at 9,820 ft and you finish near 12,000 ft — don't attempt this cold. Sleep in Bishop first, start at dawn, and turn back at the first sign of altitude sickness. Long Lake (2.3 mi) is a gorgeous turnaround.
The guide
The signature Bishop-area march — a chain of jewel lakes leads to an 11,972-foot pass beneath Mts. Goode and Agassiz, then drop…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Bishop Pass & Dusy Basin — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 37.1683, -118.5636