Sierra Nevada Camping and Fishing

[The Walking Trout]

I am new to the website and it's so great to see how people help each other out. I am looking to go camping and fishing in the sierras. Would anyone know of a campground with at least vault toilets, possibly a water spicket and fishing that is close and also we can hike too? I'd like to take my 2 kids up there since they like the local lake fishing this winter and they love the mountains.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[Guest Who]

I am new to the website and it's so great to see how people help each other out. I am looking to go camping and fishing in the sierras. Would anyone know of a campground with at least vault toilets, possibly a water spicket and fishing that is close and also we can hike too? I'd like to take my 2 kids up there since they like the local lake fishing this winter and they love the mountains.

Thanks for any suggestions.

When were you planning your trip? The Eastern Sierras waters are generally closed for the season. They open on the last Sat of April. Right now there are only a few waters open (pleasent valley reservoir, and a few creeks and rivers (with special regs). If you want to wait for the opener, there are a lot of places to camp with hike in fishing (though the hike in fish are small but aggressive). A few that spring to mind are: Coldwater campground above lake Mary has a string of lakes to hike to, the first being Arrowhead lake that's about a mile hike up a hill. If you camp at lake George, you could fish that lake and walk to Mary and fish it too, then you can hike to TJ and Crystal lake (1 mile but mostly uphill) See map: http://stevenojai.tripod.com/mammoth.htm If you don't mind being far from a town, Rock Creek lake is a very nice area with hike in lakes and streams. This is hardly a complete list, but it covers what I have experience with. my vote would be camping at lake George because you have a 2 lakes to fish from your campground, and you can walk around the lake to find the trailhead then another mile to nonstop (very small) rainbow action at TJ lake, which should be fun for your kids. The town of Mammoth lakes is close by if you want to go eat dinner or buy groceries at Vons or whatever.
Edit: I forgot to add if you plan on hiking early in the season you should ask around about snow covering the trails. Every year is different.

[chappy23us]

Cant go wrong with Convict Lake campground. Flush toilets, campsites on the creek and close to the lake. Also access to back country lakes on Convict Lake trailhead. Can't wait for the last Saturday day in April!

[The Walking Trout]

Thanks Guest Who and Chappy. Appreciate the suggestions. Did not know you can camp at Lake George. I've been to Convict before and it is beautiful...just drove to it when passing by. Will check it out again.

I am planning the trip for summer time when kids are out of school. This way we don't have to worry about hurrying back on Sunday to get them back to school on a Monday.

Hopefully we get some major rain and snow in the Sierras to fill up the lakes and streams again so we have some happy trout!

[Guest Who]

Hi, you can camp at george. I don't know why the recreation.gov site won't let me see the campgrounds, but you can go to the management company's site with a map of their campgrounds: http://www.clm-services.com/campgroundsmap

http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/inyo/recreation/recarea/?recid=20470&actid=29

Looks like the George site is not reservable but there are also sites around Mary you can reserve.

[The Walking Trout]

Hi, you can camp at george. I don't know why the recreation.gov site won't let me see the campgrounds, but you can go to the management company's site with a map of their campgrounds: http://www.clm-services.com/campgroundsmap

http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/inyo/recreation/recarea/?recid=20470&actid=29

Looks like the George site is not reservable but there are also sites around Mary you can reserve.

Yeah! I was looking into reserving a spot at Lake George but couldn't find a way to reserve. Is Lake George a deep lake? Is shore fishing ok there? Just curious. I love reading and learning about the sierras!

Thanks for the info and taking the time to look up stuff!

[DockRat]

Try Rock Creek on the way to Mammoth. Turn at Toms Place. Several campgrounds with good fishing and Rock Creek Lake at the top.
DR

[seal]

Try Rock Creek on the way to Mammoth. Turn at Toms Place. Several campgrounds with good fishing and Rock Creek Lake at the top.
DR

Got a week reserved at the lodge in May, looking forward to it. I'd go early season though if creeks and rivers are your thing unless we get blasted by snow the next 2 months things are going to be rather dry come mid to late July.

[The Walking Trout]

Try Rock Creek on the way to Mammoth. Turn at Toms Place. Several campgrounds with good fishing and Rock Creek Lake at the top.
DR

I have Rock Creek on my hit list. Troutin Man recommended that one to me a while back, but haven't gone. How is the scenery at Rock Creek? Are there places you can hike and fish and make it back within half or full day of hiking back to campground? I may have to check this out.

[The Walking Trout]

Got a week reserved at the lodge in May, looking forward to it. I'd go early season though if creeks and rivers are your thing unless we get blasted by snow the next 2 months things are going to be rather dry come mid to late July.

Will the lake be dried out if the drought continues? From the pictures, Lake Sabrina looked almost wiped out from no rain last season. Have you ever been to Sabrina?

[John Harper]

Check out this site for Rock Creek Lake:

www.rockcreeklake.com

John

[oakboy]

I will second Rock Creek, it is a great place to camp and there are multiple campgrounds up the canyon. As well as great day hiking at the end of the road.

KP

[dbfishing]

Give June lake loop a shot 4 lakes multiple streams and hikes in the same area