Owens River Road, Inyo National Forest, California
Owens River Road starts from US-395 at a tiny hamlet called “Crestview”, about 20 minutes north of Mammoth Lakes, CA. Crestview is so small, it’s not anything at all. All that’s there is a CalTrans Maintenance station and a house for the crews.
Otherwise, the road is more known for leading folks out to Big Springs Campground. But don’t drive out to the campground. You’ll find dozens and dozens of free boondocking sites located along smaller forest roads branching off of Owens River Road. Most of these sites take you deep into the woods, but will keep you on hard packed dirt roads. You’ll find spacious sites far from other campers.
Elevation here runs between 8,000 to 9,000 feet depending on the exact location where you want to set up. Even while Summer temperatures get into the 100s down in the Owens Valley, it remains a cool upper-60s, low-70s up here. That’s not just because of the elevation. It’s also due to the tall, old growth pines that canopy shade over your campsite.
Inyo National Forest currently offers a maximum 14-days stay per site, but 28 days overall per year.
The closest amenities are found in the town of Mammoth Lakes, about 13 miles to the south.
As for what to do while camping there… Definitely make the drive up to Mono Lake for the afternoon and then plan a hike up Obsidian Dome to rockhound for some black glassy rocks.
Pros and Cons
Pros: Peace and quiet, a rich scent of fresh pine, sounds of song birds and howling coyotes. It’s totally free to camp here, you get a 14-day stay, cool weather in the summer, close proximity to Mammoth Lakes. Plenty of wood and pine cones laying around for campfires.
Cons: Verizon cell signal is weak in many places, may be difficult to get sun for your solar panels.
Amenities
Dispersed camping throughout Inyo National Forest offers no amenities. There are several developed campgrounds that offer trash bins and pit toilets.
The town of Mammoth Lakes is located 13 miles to the south, and offers full modern amenities. The town of Lee Vining is 19 miles to the north, and offers basic amenities.
Cellphone Signal Strength
Verizon 4G comes in weak here. We routinely got 2/5 bars. The thick forest pines tend to muffle the signal here. We did find other dispersed campsites that seemed to get 3/5 bars, but they were located closer to US-395.
Insects, Pests, & Wildlife
Seemingly very little in the way of gnats, flies, and mosquitoes. During the summer it gets quite dry up here, and tends to prohibit mosquitoes from establishing a foothold. It’s best to bring mosquito repellent anyhow, just in case.
Raccoons, squirrels, chipmunks, rats, mice, and other vermin are abound here. We never found any mice in our trailer however. We also heard coyotes just about every night. Most certainly black bear in the area, we just never saw one.
Noise
Dispersed campsites along Owens River Road are offer a lot of peace and quiet. The further you get from US-395, the better obviously. There are other campers that go by in search of campsites, and there are hikers that wander along. Otherwise, it remains super quiet here.
Safe or Sketchy?
Camping here seems very safe. We never noticed any sketchy people. We camped here for four nights, and left our trailer a few times to go out on hikes. We never encountered a problem.
How Crowded Is It?
It’s not too bad. We did see other campers in the area, but everyone seemed to be spread out pretty well. If you hike out a ways, you will see them around. Yet, there are lots of campsites, and even during the Summer, there were plenty to go around. You can still find a lot of secluded camping here.
Thank you for such great detailed information on cell signals , solar panels, safety, number of days, pros and cons information.
Amazing camping in Inyo National Forest. Take Owens Gorge Road off hwy 395, across from Tom’s Place. Past Tuff Campground and Sunny Slopes Community of houses. First Forest Service Road on your left past Wheeler View Drive, 04s237 to spur N1566. The half mile dirt road is a little loose but easily doable in a truck or AWD if no snow.
The large platform is National Forest land and the best least known camp spot anywhere in the Sherwin Plateau area. Plenty of space to turn around the truck or car. Views of the White Mt’s and the Sierra range towards Rock Creek Canyon. The nearby owners of the adjacent land illegally used the platform to store their construction trucks and debris, and tried to sell our public land there by absorbing it-as if no one would notice. There are land stakes to clearly mark boundaries, and don’t drive down the other side. Tell all your good friends. This place is a gem.
Head in further from 395 turnoff. Go about 1 mile in and there is a meadow on the left and a white sign in the distance. Get ready to turn left at the curve on turn onto 2S144. Go about 75 feet and turn left onto a small campsite that can accommodate a smaller TT (ours is 26 foot). Otherwise keep going on 2S144 about another 500 feet and there is an open area good for any size rig ln the right. As long as you are narrow enough to go on 2S144. Couple more campsites about 1/2 mile to 3/4 mile further Water is available at the rest stop across US395 from Owens River road. Also Mammoth Lakes is 15 minutes away