Mono Pass (Rock Creek)
John Muir Wilderness (Rock Creek) · near Mammoth Lakes / Bishop · Eastern Sierra
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- moderate
- Route type
- out-and-back
- Distance
- 8.4 miles
- Elevation gain
- 1,900 ft
- Time needed
- day
- Best season
- July–September
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- No permit for day hiking (overnight requires an Inyo wilderness permit). Starts from one of the highest trailheads in the Sierra at Mosquito Flat.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 1 of 5
What is here
- Features
- Starts at 10,200 ft · Chain of alpine lakes · Little Lakes Valley views · High-alpine wildflowers
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- No
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- The trailhead is so high (10,200+ ft) that altitude is the main challenge — spend a night in Mammoth or at the Rock Creek campgrounds first. For an easier day with the same stunning scenery, the nearly flat Little Lakes Valley trail from the same trailhead is one of the most beautiful easy hikes in the Sierra. Wildflowers peak in July–August.
The guide
The Rock Creek drainage south of Mammoth holds one of the highest trailheads in the entire Sierra — Mosquito Flat, at over 10,2…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Mono Pass (Rock Creek) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 37.436, -118.748