Mono Lake

Proximity from Twin Lakes: 30 miles (45 minute drive)

Coming from the north, the sudden view of Mono Lake is spectacular, even more so if you realize that following the last Ice Age, the lake was 60 times larger than it is today. As you drop down to the ancient lake along US 395, a good first stop is the Mono Basin Scenic Area Visitor Center just north of Lee Vining. The staff can unveil the mysteries of Mono Lake and offer guidance about where best to view the tufa towers-the southwest end of the lake at the State Tufa Reserve. With its salt concentration more than twice that of the ocean, Mono Lake would seem lifeless. Yet, Mono Lake supports an amazingly productive food chain that includes brine shrimp, brine flies and millions of water birds.

Throughout its long existence, salts and minerals have washed into the lake from Eastern Sierra streams. Freshwater evaporating from the lake each year has left the salts and minerals behind so that the lake is now about 2 1/2 times as salty as the ocean. Call them weird, call them bizarre, call them what you will, but the unusual rock formations that grace Mono Lake's shores are known to geologists as tufa (too'-fah). Tufa forms in a variety of ways at Mono Lake, but the most visible and remarkable formations are the towers that grace Mono's shoreline.

Mono Lake has been the focus on much media attention lately due to the ground breaking discovery just made there! The significance of this finding is tremendous. In short, it changes the fundamental understanding of how life works on earth. Read more here.

From sunset-tours to self-guided kayak treks, Mono Lake offers a variety of ways to spend your time at this world famous million-year old lake.

Learn more about Mono Lake here:

  • Copyright © 2010 Twin Lakes Resort, Bridgeport California. (877) 932-7751 All rights reserved. www.twinlakeresort.com