Best Trails in Inyo National Forest

Easy to moderate with an amazing secluded lake at the end.

this trail is not accessible due to snow damage!

Great little hike with elevation gain packed in. The trail still has a tiny bit of snow coverage at the top when we hiked it.

Fun and not too long hike below a beautiful vista. A lot of uphill, but plenty of spots where you can stop, rest and snap a few pictures.

Beautiful hike. Nice steady incline all the way to the lake. Waterfalls were intense and view of the valley and Silver Lake were breath taking. The only negative is you hike above the lake and don't really have a chance to get down next to lake Agnew. Continue to Gem lake I suppose. Greatly enjoyed and the pup loved it as well.

Only hiked about 3 miles in and even though it was a hot mid afternoon hike, there was still a breeze an plenty of places in rest in the shade along the way. Beautiful scenery, plenty of wildflowers and of course McGee Creek was full and furious! Great hike. I highly recommend it.

Summited on 6/9/17. We started the hike from Whitney Portal at 1am and route-finding below treeline was a bit tricky but we had a GPS so we were able to get back on track pretty quickly whenever we lost our way. The trail was intermittently snowy (which is what made route-finding difficult) until just past Mirror Lake when it became entirely snow covered and we put on crampons. We made it to Trail Camp at 6am and took a half an hour break. It took us another 2 hours to climb up the chute and make it to Trail Crest. Because of elevation and fatigue it took us yet another 2 hours to reach the summit, but we did it!! We didn't stay long because we knew we still had a long hike back down ahead of us. Sliding down the chute was one of the most fun aspects of doing this trail in the snow, but please make sure you bring an ice axe and know how to use it so you can self-arrest if necessary. It was nice to hike back down in the daylight but the sun made the snow an absolute nightmare to walk through! We finally made it back to the trailhead at 6pm, completely worked but so elated!

i did it June 2017. Still snow above 10,000 ft. Crampon and ice axe were required as the 99 switchback were covered entirely with snow. It was awesome, and I m glad there were still snow !

Amazing trail. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Temperature was 25F at 9am and warmed to near 55F at 4pm. Road from Rock Creek to Mosquito Flats Parking Lot was still closed with around 2 feet of ice mounds blocking. Trail was mostly covered with the same amount of melting ice and some deeper pockets beginning at Long Lake. Most of the interior lakes were still frozen over, though the streams were gushing with ice cold drinking water. Easy to wander off of the trail after Box Lake due to snow the night before, but relatively easy to know where you are.

Absolutely beautiful lake and river. First half mile is a steady ascension of close to 300 ft. If staying overnight, pack a bear canister.