Matterhorn Peak is a 11 mile moderately trafficked out and back trail located near Bridgeport, California that features a lake and is rated as difficult. The trail is primarily used for hiking and is best used from June until September. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
dogs on leash
hiking
lake
river
views
wildlife
Directions from Bridgeport: Follow the Twin Lakes Road until it ends at the Mono Village Resort. Parking is available at the far end of the resort area at no charge for day use, with a $5 fee for overnight parking.
The trail starts just south of Mono Village Campground at Twin Lakes, CA. There's no cell reception there, so I wasn't able to check in via the app. GPS is still fully intact for recording purposes, however, and pictures can be saved in the app for later uploading.
This is by far the most visually astounding hike I've been on. The views of the Sierras and numerous waterfalls and lake vistas at points along the route are absolutely breathtaking.
It's a continuous, switchback ascent to the top. We electively stopped our uphill trek about 1.8 miles from the base, although the trail continues for another 3.7 miles and climbs an additional 4,400 vertical feet from our turnaround point.
We climbed 948 feet in elevation during our less than two-mile ascent. It took us around 2 hours to make the out-and-back trip. It's late September and there was a light dusting of snow on the ground at our finish elevation (~8,000 ft), which was the first we had seen on the trail.
This one is a must see, even if only traveling part of the way.
Definitely a difficult hike. We didn't see anyone else on the trail. We started at the trail head in Mono Lake village (really just a campground). The beginning of the trail was very poorly marked, so I was glad we had downloaded the Alltrails map. We wouldn't have found the trail otherwise. Eventually the trail peters out and you just have to rely on your map from there.
We did it all in one day, and it took us 12 hrs. I guess people also do it in two days, which would probably be easier. It nearly destroyed me to do it in one day, although my wife seemed fine. She's a super-hiker though, so that doesn't count.
Even though it was August, there was still plenty of snow on the upper slopes. The trail only takes you half way, and then you have to scramble over rocks and snow patches the rest of the way. This is a little exhausting, and makes the climb more difficult. Definitely bring some sort of emergency beacon device because it is very rugged and isolated up there. Like I said, we didn't see anybody the whole time.
Things to consider:
- Bring a water filter. There is a stream almost the whole way up.
- Be prepared to deal with snow. The snow was icing up on our way back in the late afternoon and made it a little treacherous coming back down. It was very steep.
- Bring mosquito repellent. Haha. They are relentless .
- Just be safe because it would be difficult for anybody to find you up there.
All in all though, it was a gorgeous hike and definitely worth the effort. Lots of cool rocks on the way up and a great view at the top.
Hiking the Matterhorn is a great peak to climb! The hike starts out at the Twin Lakes area outside Bridgeport, CA and quickly ascends up along the Horse Creek. After 3 miles it is mostly rocky paths with some good campsites between the ridges at 10,000 feet. From there there is another two miles of hiking up rocks to the SW base of the mountain. The SW face is mostly scree up to the base of the peak where you must scramble up the last 300 feet. The peak is pretty small, and you get an absolutely amazing 360 degree view of the the surrounding mountains and valleys. The weather was great. The hike is definitely challenging due to route finding and rock, but not that dangerous as long as you know where you are going!