Lee Vining & Lundy Canyon
near Mono Lake · near Lee Vining · Eastern Sierra
Nordic & Snowshoe
At a glance
- Best season
- Dec–Mar; dependable snow (~7,000–9,000 ft)
What is here
- Activities
- snowshoe · backcountry
- Setting
- summit
- Amenities
- Dramatic canyon scenery · Frozen waterfalls & aspen · Wild backcountry touring · Near Mono Lake
- Best for
- Rugged canyon snowshoe touring
- Features
- Wild Lundy & Lee Vining canyons · Frozen waterfalls · Soaring peaks · Uncrowded backcountry
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Avalanche terrain in steep canyons · Route-finding & remoteness · Cold, wind, storms · Carry navigation & the essentials
- Good for a first timer
- No
Guides, rentals and operators
- Rentals
- No
Nordic & Snowshoe detail
- Venue
- backcountry
- Ability
- advanced
- Snow
- 4
- Trail notes
- Wild, dramatic snowshoe and backcountry touring up canyons near Mono Lake — frozen waterfalls, aspen, and soaring peaks, a rugged eastern-Sierra escape near the ice-climbing hub
- Terrain note
- ~7,000–9,000 ft; ungroomed backcountry; dependable snow
- Intl tip
- Rugged, dramatic backcountry snowshoeing and ski touring in the canyons near Lee Vining and Mono Lake (Lundy and Lee Vining canyons). In winter these steep-walled canyons — famous with ice climbers for their frozen cascades — become quiet corridors of deep snow, golden aspen, and soaring peaks above the Mono Basin. Committing terrain: steep, avalanche-prone, remote, needs solid winter skills — carry avalanche gear and the forecast, navigation, and the ten essentials, go with capable partners. Dependable snow from ~7,000 ft; exposure and cold are real. Wild and solitary.
The guide
The canyons rising into the Sierra near Lee Vining and Mono Lake — Lundy Canyon and Lee Vining Canyon chief among them — offer …
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Lee Vining & Lundy Canyon — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 37.93, -119.13