Mammoth Lakes is a town in east central California, near the Nevada border. Mammoth Lakes’ main industry is tourism. Winters are the peak season, mostly for skiing and other snow sports. Mammoth Mountain is widely regarded as the top ski resort in California. Summers offer plenty of great experiences at the glacier-cut lakes. Another good reason to visit in the summer is the proximity to national parks and monuments.
Many publications have ranked Mammoth Mountain the best ski area in the state of California. The resort is huge, with 3,500 skiable acres and 28 chair lifts. Mammoth Lakes (the town) is only 5.5 miles away from the ski area.
Mammoth Lakes’ second tourist season is the summer. The area is great for outdoors explorers to boat, hike, bike, rock climb, horseback ride, and camp. A can’t-miss stop is Devils Postpile National Monument. It is a stunningly beautiful formation of rocks with dramatic waterfalls.
Yosemite National Park is the 3rd most-visited US national park. The eastern entry to the park is only 45 minutes away from Mammoth Lakes. Many visitors combine a summer trip to Mammoth Lakes with an opportunity to check out one of the country’s best parks.
Winter is the peak tourism season because of the skiing. Daily highs are typically around 40, and the area gets a lot of snow (200 inches annually).
Once the ski season is over, the tourism slows down until June. Spring is too warm for skiing, but too cool for many of the lake-centered outdoors activities.
Summers are beautiful with daily high temps in the upper 70s, very little precipitation, and lots of sunshine.
Early fall is underrated. The weather is still warm and dry through September. Early October can be good to see the changing of the colors.