MONO LAKE TUFA STATE NATURAL RESERVE
Mono Lake is an anciently-beautiful body of water, in eastern California, where bizarre tufa tower formations emerge eerily from its surface.
It is one of the oldest lakes in the western hemisphere (at over 1 million years old) and it has an extremely rare ecosystem. Mono Lake is 2 1/2 times as salty as the ocean, is filled with tons of little brine shrimp and it is an incredible refuge for millions of migratory birds.
Mono Lake had me completely intrigued and I couldn’t wait to visit!
WHERE IS MONO LAKE?
Located in eastern California, just east of Yosemite National Park.
(approximately 30 minutes east of Tuolumne Meadows)
Traveler Tip:
Mono Lake is a perfect road trip stop when traveling from Yosemite National Park, east, across Tioga Pass
to destinations such as
(Lake Tahoe, Bodie State Historic Park, Mammoth Lakes, the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest or to Death Valley National Park in California)
HOW TO VISIT MONO LAKE
There are several places to visit the Tufa Towers at Mono Lake.
- County Park – On the northwest side of the lake, off on US Highway 395, there is an easy trail and a boardwalk that leads to the lake and unique tufa towers.
- Old Marina – Located on the western side of the lake, just off U.S. Highway 395. This is one of the easiest spots to quickly see Mono Lake and several tufa towers.
- Navy Beach – Located on the south side of the lake, off of CA-120. This is a great place to launch kayaks/ canoes and it is also connected to the very popular South Tufa section.
- *South Tufa – On the southside of Mono Lake off of CA-120. This section has the largest Tufa groves on the lake and sees thousands of visitors each year. There is an easy 0.8 mile loop trail where you can walk among tons of incredible Tufa Towers.
Our Family Loved the South Tufa Area.
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- Directions to South Tufa: From Lee Vining, head south on US-395 for approximately 5.4 miles. You’ll come to a sign that says, “Mono Lake South Tufa.” Turn left onto CA-120 East. Continue on this road for 4.7 miles. Then turn left onto a gravel road toward Test Station Road. This will take you to the parking lot.
- Fee: $3 fee per person at the South Tufa area, children under 18 are free.
- Just fill out the envelope with your cash at the self-serve kiosk to get a hangtag for your vehicle and a permit to carry with you on the trail.
- Restrooms & picnic tables are available here.
THE 0.8-MILE LOOP TRAIL
(SOUTH TUFA AREA)
From the parking lot, it’s an easy walk down to the water’s edge at Mono Lake. And the tufas are spectacular! Huge groves of tufa towers line the lake and the area around you. This landscape is simply unreal!
Hiking Tip: This trail is very exposed and can get quite hot. Make sure to grab your water bottle before you set out on this short trail.
Family Activity
While down at the lake’s edge, take a moment to look for little brine shrimp. Amazingly they’re everywhere in the water!
Our kids had an absolute blast scooping up handfuls of water and then watching all of the little brine shrimp swim around as they held them. They could have spent hours doing this.
Warning: There are a lot of alkali flies down by the water too. Yet, these flies didn’t fly around and bother us like regular flies do. Instead they primarily stayed on the water’s surface. But our kids got a kick out of how when we moved closer to the water’s edge all of the flies there would suddenly fly away from us to another nearby open spot on the water. It was kind of fun to watch their mass relocations.
The picturesque Sierra Nevada snow-capped Mountain Range creates a beautiful backdrop to Mono Lake.
CAN YOU SWIM AT MONO LAKE?
Yes, you can, although we didn’t see anyone swimming when we visited in June.
Mono Lake’s salty water, being more dense than ocean water, will let you float more buoyantly. This would be a really fun experience.
Tip: This water, due to its saltiness, will really sting if it gets in your eyes or any cuts.
MONO LAKE’S RARE ECOSYSTEM
BIZARRE TUFAS, SALTY WATER & BIRDING PARADISE
- Mono Lake covers about 65 square miles.
- Mono Lake is thought to be over 1 million years old.
- There is no outlet.
- Over Mono Lake’s long history, 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.
- Mono Lake used to only ever lose its water to evaporation.
- In 1941, water began being diverted from Mono Lake’s tributary streams to meet the growing water demands of Los Angeles. This resulted in, Mono Lake dropping 45 vertical feet in 40 years, losing half its volume, doubling in salinity and threatening the survival of the nesting California Gull population that relied on this habitat.
- This new increased water loss also exposed these bizarre tufa towers that used to lie under the water’s surface.
- Luckily, citizen advocacy and new rules saved Mono Lake from complete destruction and today people are trying to help its water levels rise again.
- Tufa Towers (made of calcium carbonate) form when the calcium-rich freshwater springs bubble up through the lake salts, thus creating limestone deposits that accumulate into these fascinating and unearthly looking towers that climb up to thirty feet tall!
- Evaporation and water loss has made this lake about 2.5-3 times more salty than the ocean and very alkaline.
- This is why no fish live in these waters, yet in Mono Lake the conditions are perfect for supporting a complex food chain of green algae, brine shrimp and alkali flies.
- This unique ecosystem in turn supports more than 80 species of migratory birds and between 1-2 million birds feed and rest at Mono Lake each year.
Fun for Kids
Tufa Structures are fascinating to look at up close. Bring a small magnifying glass for kids so that they can have fun making their own discoveries with these incredible structures.
Nearby Lodging:
- Lee Vining, CA – Lodging near Mono Lake and that’s only 12 miles from the eastern entrance of Yosemite National Park.
Where We Stayed:
- Mammoth Lakes, CA (the night prior to visiting)– This is a 40 minute drive from Mono Lake’s South Tufa area. Mammoth Lakes is a fun ski resort community. We visited in June and really loved this fun little town.
- Our travel itinerary went from Death Valley to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest to Mono Lake to Yosemite (if you are looking for travel itinerary ideas.)
Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve was a fantastic road trip stop in eastern California for our family. These intriguing Tufa Towers tell an incredible story and they were absolutely fascinating to see.
Have a Great Time Visiting Mono Lake with Your Traveling Feet!
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