Sierra Nevada Bighorn Range
Eastern Sierra Escarpment · near Lone Pine / Independence · Eastern Sierra
Wildlife Watching
At a glance
- Best season
- Winter (sheep on lower slopes) & summer (high country); sightings are rare
- Open year round
- Yes
What is here
- Wildlife
- land-mammals · birds
- Species
- Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep (endangered), golden eagles, marmots, alpine birds
- Amenities
- Endangered Sierra bighorn · Dramatic escarpment habitat · Winter lower-slope viewing · High-country hiking
- Best for
- A rare endangered-species quest
- Features
- Endangered Sierra bighorn · Steep escarpment habitat · Recovery success story · For patient, fit seekers
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Sightings genuinely rare & luck-based · Steep, high-altitude terrain · Do not approach or disturb sheep · Weather & exposure at altitude
- Good for a first timer
- No
Wildlife Watching detail
- Viewing
- trail
- Effort
- remote
- Habitat
- mountain
- Sighting
- 2
- Viewing notes
- The steep eastern escarpment is home to the endangered Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep — a rare, hard-won sight for hikers scanning the high crags above the Owens Valley
- Intl tip
- Along the abrupt eastern Sierra escarpment lives one of California's rarest large mammals — the endangered Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep, a distinct subspecies numbering only a few hundred and slowly recovering. Seeing one is a genuine quest: they favor precipitous crags and blend into rock. Winter offers the best odds (some descend to lower slopes near Lone Pine/Independence); summer hikers may spot them on alpine ridges with marmots and golden eagles. Steep, high, exposed terrain — never approach the sheep, bring a scope, temper expectations. A rare privilege.
The guide
Along the abrupt eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada, where the range rockets up more than 10,000 feet from the Owens Valle…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Sierra Nevada Bighorn Range — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 36.7, -118.3