Best Trails in Inyo National Forest

Fish were biting when I was there.

This is a wonderful hike and my family's favorite so far.....
When we got to heart lake a couple told us to walk a little farther to a more scenic lookout. So glad we did.... an amazing view of Lake Mary. The majestic mountains covered in snow, sound of waterfall in distance and beautiful aspen trees are some of the many memories we carry with us from heart lake trail.

Did this in 2009 and it was great! Had a minor detour as we got to the farthest point of the loop where signage was scarce. Spent about an hour trying to find the trail through the middle of a bog.

Nice lake and hike, but the lake is catch and release only. you can't take any of the fish.

Great hike with kids. Bring some repellent. The views coming and going are rewarding.

Wow! Amazing hike. Well worth the effort.

Great hike. Tough but well worth it. if anybody find a Nissan key with a pink 550 cord key chain they are mine please let me know.

Gorgeous

The valley is fairly dry as of mid-July, but I would guess that this hike is amazing in June when the flowers are much more vibrant. If you're looking for an easier hike, this is a good option.

Great hike for our entire family. Our kids all enjoyed it, ages 10, 9, 8 and 2.5 (she did get tired and packed for a good portion of it, but had a blast throwing rocks otherwise!). You can't go all the way around right now due to mud at the far end, but out and back was nice.

Added another mile to this hike as we parked at the top of the waterfall of Twin Lakes. The trail wasn't as busy as we expected it to be. The weather was a bit chilly especially on this trail when most of it is under the canopy of trees. I should have brought a sweater! The plan was to wade across Crystal Lake to the small island to grab a geocache. Half way there, as the water reached the Cardenas jewels, I retreated back to the mainland! The hike wasn't too bad but I wished I had brought my trekking poles for this one. Great views of George's Lake from the trail. It's a must to return!

Awesome lake. Good trout fishing too! I would rate this as easy since it is so short.

This is a really nice trail to a pretty Lake, the water that runs alongside the trail is also very pretty and so clear. The view of Mono Lake basin on the way out was great. I'd say this was an easy out-and-back

This is one of my standard warm-up hikes for the start of summer hiking season. Good to get acclimated to elevation gains.

Our family did this hike yesterday. This is our third year hiking convict lake. It is a beautiful hike but unfortunately we were not able to hike around the entire lake. At about the half way point we were unable to continue due to the large runoff from mountain, crossing was too dangerous... rapid currents. Lots of mosquitos is this area also.
The highlight of our hike was a deer who walked out on path right in front of us. :-)

We summited on 7/15/17 after camping at Lone Pine Lake and Trail Camp. There are a few snow fields above trail camp that must be traversed and none after the Whitney Crest. You do not need an ice axe nor crampons...micro spikes were helpful on a few snow fields leading from Outpost Camp to Trail Camp, but crampons are overkill. We went up via the switchbacks and they are pretty well snow-free and the cables were not an issue.

Below Trail Camp there are a few water crossings that can lead to wet feet but they are manageable. The mosquitos at Lone Pine Lake were pretty thick.

Great trail, very beautiful all the way up! There is still a small snow patch at the very end of the trail that covers the river coming down so be careful and stay near the top of the snow patch where it covers the trail. It was pretty buggy (lots of mosquitos) on the right side and the left side of the lake has fun massive rocks to climb around on. The lake itself is gorgeous! This place was recommended for backpacking...I'd say the one caveat is that the left side doesn't have much camping so you're left with a mosquito battle on the right side.