Home / Adventures / Laurel Lakes, California
Laurel Lakes 2003
Date 06/03/2003
Attendees

Scott and Larry Brady: 1998 Isuzu Trooper
Trail Time 3 Hours
Location Mammoth Lakes Area, California
Mapping / Waypoint File Map / Mapsource / .GPX File
This is a short, beautiful trail out of Mammoth California. The trail starts off of Highway 395 and Sherwin Creek Road. After 1.2 miles you turn west and the trail begins a set of steep switchbacks. You gain considerable elevation and level out to a long, narrow canyon, thick with Aspen. This is a beautiful area, with a nice, level camp spot along Laurel Creek. You begin climbing again along a narrow shelf road, with several tight switchbacks. This is the most challenging section of the trail, yet well within the capabilities of most stock 4wd vehicles. The trail climbs to over 10,000 ft, and the end of our trip. We could not drive the vehicle further due to the snow drifts. We hiked the half mile to the view point for Lower Laurel lake below. This trip would need to be done in late July to be able to drive to Upper Laurel Lake. This area is truly beautiful.

Trail Rating: 2.5 (1-5 scale)

 Note: Early season snow will block the end of the trail
Major Obstacle None

Trooper showing off its rear flex near Mammoth. Testing the fitment of the new 285/75 R16 Yokohama Geolander's.
View from the shelf road

View back towards Mammoth from the trail, just before the snow drift.

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