Walt's Point
Lone Pine (Horseshoe Meadows Road) · near Lone Pine / Bishop · Eastern Sierra
Paragliding
At a glance
- Skill level
- expert
- Best season
- Spring and fall for recreational · Summer for record XC (experts only) · Memorial Day–Labor Day main season
Worth knowing
- Good for a first timer
- No
Paragliding detail
- Nickname
- America's Cross-Country Jewel
- Flying types
- xc · thermal
- Conditions
- A road-cutting launch high on Horseshoe Meadows Road above the Alabama Hills. Some of the strongest lift anywhere on Earth — pilots reach 18,000 ft where cold and oxygen starvation become real risks. The first 100-mile and 200-mile paragliding flights in the US originated here.
- Ushpa
- P4 (Master) rating and serious XC experience essential. This is one of the most demanding flying environments in the world — extreme thermic turbulence in summer, high winds, strong rotor behind spines and canyons. Not for beginners under any circumstances.
- Intl tip
- Base yourself in Bishop or Lone Pine on Hwy 395. Rainy-day options: the hot springs (covered in the swimming & hot springs guide — Keough's and others), and the world-famous Erick Schat's Bakery in Bishop. The Owens Valley combines record-setting flying with the Eastern Sierra's finest hiking, climbing, and fishing — a multi-sport pilot's paradise.
The guide
The Owens Valley is where American cross-country flying was born, and Walt's Point is its cathedral. This road-cutting launch h…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Walt's Point — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 36.5119, -118.1706