Eastern Sierra
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The 150 miles of Highway 395 (also known as the Eastern Sierra Scenic Byway) between Bishop (Inyo County) and Topaz (Mono County) ranks right up there with coastal Highway 1 as California’s most scenic drive. Continue your journey north on Highway 89 to Markleeville (Alpine County) or west on Highway 4 to Bear Valley and you'll add to the lifetime's worth of dog-friendly attractions easily accessible from the San Francisco Bay Area.
You’ll have trouble keeping Rover’s head inside the window and your eyes on the asphalt as you travel this gorgeous route tracing the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada. Pick a side road, almost any side road, and you and your four-legged friend will find yourselves surrounded by rugged canyons, granite peaks, rushing streams and vast displays of aspens, cottonwoods and willows that for a few weeks in autumn paint the landscape in yellows, oranges and reds.
Mono County in the Eastern Sierra is connected to
Yosemite National Park via Highway 120, the “Tioga Road,” which crests the Sierra Nevada at 9,943-foot Tioga Pass, traverses the park and exits 59 miles later at the Big Oak Flat portal in Tuolumne County.
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The Mammoth Lakes area is the most developed part of the Eastern Sierra, with amenities and services to accommodate everyone from luxury-seekers to campers and, of course, DogTrekkers. The area is loaded with dog-friendly lodging establishments, and while we can't vouch for them all, we do have our favorites.
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Our suggestion for an Eastern Sierra trip over a long weekend: Pick up Highway 395 in Reno or Carson City and spend the first night about 100 miles down the road at the dog-friendly Bridgeport Inn, a historic lodge in the Mono County town of Bridgeport.
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When it comes to five-star wildflower hikes, Carson Pass in the Mokelumne Wilderness south of Lake Tahoe has few rivals. more »
The Mammoth Lakes area of the Eastern Sierra holds some of California's most stunning—and paw-friendly —high-altitude landscapes. At Mammoth Mountain, hikers with leashed dogs can hop aboard the Panorama Gondola for a ride to the mountain's 11,053-foot summit and 360-degree views of surrounding peaks. more »