Stuff to do near Lone Pine

Never been to e sierras. Taking elderly parents and little kids for a couple days between christmas and ny, home based in lone pine.

Especially given the recent rains, would really appreciate suggestions so that I'm not stuck in a hotel room with cranky old people and antsy kids. Is this itinerary idiotic?

- Casual hike through alabama hills, jump on a few boulders.
- Drive up whitney portal as far as possible.
- Dayhike... suggestions of really short and easy, but stunning?
- Hot springs... which one?
- Any in-town attractions/restaurants/cafes worth seeing in lone pine?
- Worth driving into bishop?
- What to do if storming the whole time?

There's a movie museum in Lone Pine. I haven't been in it, but there were a lot of westerns and other movies filmed in the area. Might be good for a laugh.

Also, the Park Service has a new building where they issue permits. It has books and a big map and other exhibits. Check it out before you go for your hike, so the family will be familiar with some of the peaks, etc.

Bishop has Schatts Bakery and the smoked meats place and an Indian Casino and an outdoor gun range if you're into that sort of thing.

Have fun.
Jason

Weather permitting, Manzanar. Hike up the Tuttle Creek drainage. Mountain Light gallery in Bishop. Death Valley is a couple hours away if you're willing to drive.

Couple of suggestions...
1. Drop into the Lone Pine Motel located directly across the street from the pizza joint. The hotel is stuffed with John Wayne memorabilia. The locals will tell you that most all of the true westerns were filmed in Lone Pine.
2. The rain means crazy snow up at higher elevations. Drive the family north 1.5 hours to Mammoth Lakes and go skiing/boarding or just check out the snow tubing park on the way to the resort.
3. Mammoth Mountain brewery has free tastings at their distribution center right in town. Ahhh... what I would give for a 395.
4. Sweet deals at the gear exchange in Bishop
5. Hot springs just south of Mammoth Lakes near airport - locals can give you the details.
6. Check out the Happy and Sad boulders. The trail into the Happy's is super lax and the formations are worth seeing. Just north of Bishop.
7. Owens Gorge
8. Drive east from Lone Pine into Death Valley NP.
9. Check out Convict Lake - cool history for the kid's

Laws Railroad Museum in Bishop for the kiddos, Keoughs Hot Springs for all ages, worth a visit.

Go visit the ancient bristlecone forest!!!!
A must see!!!!

If it doesn't rain you can easily spend an entire day in Alabama Hills climbing/bouldering/exploring and kids will love it. I don't think you will be able to drive far on Whitney Portal Rd considering the recent precip. Other options for non-rainy days - Owens, Happys, Buttermilks or Death Valley.
If it does rain - the movie museum is worth a visit (we spent a couple of hours) and then there is Mountain Light (Gallen Rowell) in Bishop.

When in Lone Pine, go to Alabama Hills Cafe (on one of teh side streets) for breakfast - huge portions and most importantly, super yummy... (I can't believe I said that...).

Given all the snow that's fallen up there, the bristlecones won't be reachable unless you're skiing or snowmobiling. Given that, you could probably drive up to one of the trailheads and let the kiddies play in the snow.

The Sads are really easy to reach by foot. Your kids would have a blast playing around the Ice Caves area.

Most definitely make the drive to Manzanar. Extremely powerful place. Refresh your history beforehand if you need to, as it allows the gravity af the place to really grab hold.... catch up on anti-Asian sentiment pre-WWII, executive order 9066, Korematsu v. Unites States (including the dissenting opinions), then just watch some first hand accounts on youtube. Seriously powerful stuff, not to be missed.

With elderly parents and young kids I would suggest using a full day just to get there, making stops at Red Rock Canyon outside Mojave, the Indian Wells Brewery, Fossil Falls near Little Lake and the Inter-Agency Visitor Center in Lone Pine. (Good to stretch the legs and have the requisite bathroom breaks.) Spend day 2 in the Alabamas and a drive up the Portal Road to play in the snow. Manzanar and the Movie Museum would round out day 3. Have breakfast at the Alabama Hills Cafe (on W. Post St. just off the highway), lunch at Pizza Factory and dinner at Seasons or Merry Go Round. Mt. Whitney Cafe is fine, too, but I've always been disappointed with the High Sierra Cafe. There's a good selection of guide books and visitor tchotchkes at the Whitney Portal Hostel and Lone Pine Rocks & Gifts is worth a look at all the rocks, crystals, geodes, etc.

Plenty to do and probably not worth driving to Bishop if you're only there for a couple days.

There is a white sand dune desert somewhere east of Lone Pine I believe, very much like White Sands New Mexico. I would give you directions and info on it, but I'm out of town and it's all at home (and I haven't been there yet myself!). The pics I saw looked awesome.

The Alabama Hills, as many people mentioned, are totally worth seeing as well and are mostly navigable with a 2WD low clearance vehicle provided it is dry.

Not sure if the highway to Sabrina Lake by Bishop is open but it is very pretty up there. As is the drive into Rock Creek between Bishop and Mammoth (road probably closed at some point along there, however).

As of a week and a half ago, the highway to Bridgeport was dry and perfect and it is one of the most scenic drives you could do right now... although a bit far from Lone Pine.

check out Death Valley.
restaurants, and motels aren't very good in LP(imo)
best to head to Bishop. There is alot more to do/see there.
Better restaurants, and motels.

The road to the bristlecones has been closed for the season a while now. Prior the recent storms it was gated 2 mi from the first grove. 168 is closed at Aspendell but is open in the other direction. It would be less of a zoo to head up toward Westgard versus Mammoth if you want a driving tour.

- There are a few petroglyph sites around Bishop; the ranger station can give you driving directions.

- Mazourka Canyon (out of Independence) has easy to find coral fossils on the slopes near its mouth.

- Another option for the kids: nps.gov/deva/planyourvisit/…

- Laws is supposed to be worth a visit.

- Great Basin is a less hectic locals' centric bakery (Lagoon St on the left just before W Line as you head up 395 going north).

- Also we have a great independent bookstore/coffee roaster, Spellbinder/Blacksheep in the same location close to Mountain Light.

Have dinner at the Still Life Cafe in Independence.