Eastern Sierra Travel Guide — Things to Do, Food & Hotels
rural region of California, U.S.
About Eastern Sierra
The Sierra Nevada mountain range, like most ranges in the lower-48 states, runs north to south. Approaching the Sierra Nevada from the west is a very gradual process of small hills leading to larger hills, leading to small mountains, and so on. The east is a sheer cliff in comparison. At 4000 feet of elevation near Lone Pine, one can look straight up to the 14,505 ft (4,421 m) snow-capped top of Mount Whitney, the highest peak in theUnited StatesoutsideAlaska. This extreme change in elevation explains why there are no roads across the Sierra between Kernville and Mono Lake. In winter all but one of the passes are closed, and there are no crossings between Kernville and Lake Tahoe. The Eastern Sierra receives very little rainfall because it lies in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada.
Eastern Sierra Travel Guide Sections
Our comprehensive guide covers 10 sections including: