Lone Pine to Tioga Pass Trip Advice

[HighSierraOverland]

Looking to do a three to four day trip next week with the wife. We are in Fresno, but I'm hoping to drive down and across to Lone Pine, then go up towards Tioga Pass and head home through Yosemite National Park as I know that area very well.

I have a few offroading books that talk about trails out that way, but was wondering if anyone had recommendations or pointers. We'll be doing this in a stock 2017 Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro. I literally have nothing except for some basic recovery gear, so trying to stay away from roads with any crazy sharp rocks or things that could get me stuck.

I'd consider myself an intermediate driver. Still learning, but definitely not new to the game.

A few roads/trails I've been looking at in no particular order (I will order them later on for myself) are: Swansea-Cerro Gordo Road, Movie Road, Mazourka Canyon, Coyote Flat, Buttermilk Country, Sand Canyon, Deadman Pass, Copper Mountain, and Kavanaugh Ridge.

I'm hoping most will be open, but I know that some could still be closed as they approach the 10,000ft range on a few. Not to mention all the washouts from melt off.I've been trying to find a few Road Conditions reports like they do here locally, but haven't been able to find anything. I suppose I'm just a horrible searcher, but does anyone happen to know the ones for Inyo and what not that are like this?

I'm not looking for anything to connect all of these together, but any "must see" areas and things of that nature in those areas I'd love to write down and check out.

Thanks!

 

[Slamson00]

Looking to do a three to four day trip next week with the wife. We are in Fresno, but I'm hoping to drive down and across to Lone Pine, then go up towards Tioga Pass and head home through Yosemite National Park as I know that area very well.

I have a few offroading books that talk about trails out that way, but was wondering if anyone had recommendations or pointers. We'll be doing this in a stock 2017 Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro. I literally have nothing except for some basic recovery gear, so trying to stay away from roads with any crazy sharp rocks or things that could get me stuck.

I'd consider myself an intermediate driver. Still learning, but definitely not new to the game.

A few roads/trails I've been looking at in no particular order (I will order them later on for myself) are: Swansea-Cerro Gordo Road, Movie Road, Mazourka Canyon, Coyote Flat, Buttermilk Country, Sand Canyon, Deadman Pass, Copper Mountain, and Kavanaugh Ridge.

I'm hoping most will be open, but I know that some could still be closed as they approach the 10,000ft range on a few. Not to mention all the washouts from melt off.I've been trying to find a few Road Conditions reports like they do here locally, but haven't been able to find anything. I suppose I'm just a horrible searcher, but does anyone happen to know the ones for Inyo and what not that are like this?

I'm not looking for anything to connect all of these together, but any "must see" areas and things of that nature in those areas I'd love to write down and check out.

Thanks!

I just came back from this area. I have done Copper Mountain and Kavanaugh Ridge couple years ago and they would be no problem for your rig, but I can't speak to the conditions this year. I had a good view of Copper Mountain when going both north and south on 395 and I would say you would be good to go on that one as far as snow. Can't speak to any wash outs as I did not run that trail this year.

I did run this a couple weeks ago.....and can thus recommend doing the Ghost Town loop from Bodie SP to old town Masonic, then MT. Masonic for incredible views and then stopping by the old Chemung Mining town on the way back to the highway. That loop should be in the books your referring to. Gorgeous views. Few snow drifts here and there but there was only one blocking the road that someone had made a bypass for. There were a couple washouts but nothing a stock 4x4 with decent ground clearance can't handle. But the drive was incredible and you get to see a lot of history our there. We brought lunch and made a whole day out of it. I don't have a link to the road conditions for this route but here are a few pics.....

 

[HighSierraOverland]

I just came back from this area. I have done Copper Mountain and Kavanaugh Ridge couple years ago and they would be no problem for your rig, but I can't speak to the conditions this year. I had a good view of Copper Mountain when going both north and south on 395 and I would say you would be good to go on that one as far as snow. Can't speak to any wash outs as I did not run that trail this year.

I did run this a couple weeks ago.....and can thus recommend doing the Ghost Town loop from Bodie SP to old town Masonic, then MT. Masonic for incredible views and then stopping by the old Chemung Mining town on the way back to the highway. That loop should be in the books your referring to. Gorgeous views. Few snow drifts here and there but there was only one blocking the road that someone had made a bypass for. There were a couple washouts but nothing a stock 4x4 with decent ground clearance can't handle. But the drive was incredible and you get to see a lot of history our there. We brought lunch and made a whole day out of it. I don't have a link to the road conditions for this route but here are a few pics.....

How's that road sand wise? I heard some of the roads over in that direction are a bit iffy with sand and it's easy to get stuck without airing down. I didn't think that specific route was one, but figure I might as well ask.

 

[theMightyGoose]

We just came back from that area. Didn't hit too many of the low elevation trails because it was 113 degrees. We went up to 10,000 in Bishop. But I wouldn't recommend that without proper gear. Lots of sharp rocks. Buttermilks would probably be nice. But all those lower areas are gonna be HOT. Bodie would be cool too. Or the Alabama Hills would be nice. It's just the heat right now in all those areas. It's pretty brutal.


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[theMightyGoose]

You could always mess around Movie Flat and then cruise up to Whitney Portal to cool down.


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[theMightyGoose]

Also, there are so many gas stations off the 395, you could *probably* air down and re-up at a gas station. Just a thought.


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[Slamson00]

How's that road sand wise? I heard some of the roads over in that direction are a bit iffy with sand and it's easy to get stuck without airing down. I didn't think that specific route was one, but figure I might as well ask.

You will be just fine on the Ghost Town Loop. I was prepared to air down but never did on the entire route....and my P rated all terrains handled it just fine. There was one sandy section on the trail but it was no issue and not deep at all. Really the only reason I used 4x4 lo on this trail was for the gearing on the steep climb up to the top of Mt Masonic..didn't want to tear up the trail spinning tires.

The road is filled with a lot of half exposed fist sized rocks in places so it can get rough and jarring to the teeth at times, so make sure you have a good spare tire with you or at least the ability to patch and fill with air one of the tire you are running. You may want to air down just for the added comfort and peace of mind. There are a couple gas stations in Bridgeport that have air stations so you can air back up after you run the loop. Like I said I didn't air down and I was fine. Have fun!

 

[HighSierraOverland]

I think I'm just going to buy a Smittybilt one that's portable. For $80 I can do that. Will keep my mind at ease too.

 

[shoredreamer]

Ghost Town loop is fun and easy. Driving around Mono Lake is fun too. There is really too many choices where to go on the east side. You can venture into the Volcanic Tablelands north of Bishop too. Explore around Owens River if you like to fish. Here's Bodie Masonic Rd. a couple weeks ago.