Things to do / Travel Guide
Address:Lee Vining, California
Mono Lake covers 65 square miles and is over 1 million years old. Filled with salts and minerals from nearby streams, the lake spawned tufa flowers, or calcium carbonate spires and knobs, which were formed by the alkaline water and minerals. Today, winter park-goers can see snow crystals sparkle on the tufa flowers and enjoy the quiet of the lake all year. Both tours and interpretive programs are available here as well as a spooky moonlight walk in October. Hiking, swimming, boating, and cross-country skiing are also enjoyed by park visitors, as well as camping in the forest area.
From Mono Lake Tufa State Reserve - California:
The reserve was established to preserve the spectacular "tufa towers," calcium-carbonate spires and knobs formed by interaction of freshwater springs and alkaline lake water. Mono Lake is a majestic body of water covering about 65 square miles. It is an ancient lake, over 1 million years old - one of the oldest lakes in North America. It has no outlet.
Throughout its long existence, salts and minerals have washed into the lake from Eastern Sierra streams. Freshwater evaporating from the lake each year has left the salts and minerals behind so that the lake is now about 2½ times as salty and 80 times as alkaline as the ocean.