California fall Foliage, Silver Lake, Eastern Sierra
Ever since I moved in to Southern California I’ve been missing my favorite season of all, fall. And while I know exactly where to go to enjoy snow in winter, it never occur to me that all these places must have fall season too! In fact, we have here almost 400 miles of Sierra mountain range that blessed us with high elevation and, thus, four seasons. So on October 1st, the beginning of fall season, I drove up the HWY 395 to find beautiful fall colors I’ve been missing so much. And I found that Convict Lake, June Lake loop (including, and especially, Silver Lake), and Virginia Lakes are truly beautiful places for fall. Each of these lakes has a resort and a campgrounds.
*Images below: Silver Lake, CA; Virginia Lakes, CA; Virginia Lakes, CA, Virginia Lakes, CA.
JUNE LAKE loop and silver lake
Off of the iconic HWY 395, you can turn into June Lake Loop which passes through five lakes, including absolutely dramatic and gorgeous Silver Lake. It is located above 7200 elevation, so the best time to get there is the mid of the fall season. I spent some time here in Silver Lake Resort, it is small but truly mighty. It sits at the most dramatic lake shore with Sierra’s towering over it, and you can’t be here and not appreciate how masterful Mother Nature is. Here you can boat, fish, hike, bike, or just gaze at the beauty.
When to go
Usually, fall in eastern Sierra’s arrives in or about October, when the days start getting shorter and the temperature drops at night. Fall here is short, lasts 3-4 weeks or until the strong wind arrives and blows the leaves off, whichever comes first. Also, fall colors move by elevation. And if you are at the beginning of the season, places like Virginia Lakes (more than 9000 feet elevation) should be beautiful, and towards the middle and the end of the season, colors arrive to the lower elevations, places like Convict Lake or Silver Lake.
I found that Mono County Tourism , Silver Lake Resort, and June Lake Loop take fall quite seriously and give color update often, so make sure to check their updates.
Fun fact: they are big fans of fishing here, Rainbow Trout! Silver Lake resort’s store has all the fishing supplies you may possibly need.
*Images Below: Silver Lake.
hwy 395
When talking about eastern Sierra, I just cannot not to mention how much I love HWY 395! And on your way to or from the lakes, look out for the hauntingly beautiful Mono Lake. It is located about 11 miles north from June Lake junction. You can read more about Mono Lake here.
*Images Below: Mono Lake, CA, HWY 395.
