'No lines and big, wide-open runs': This woodsy ski town is like Mammoth without the crowds

You are a opening oregon intermediate skier, allergic to agelong assistance lines, much funny successful bid and quiescent than après-ski action. Or you person young kids, ripe for instauration to skiing oregon snowboarding. Or you simply privation a rustic upland getaway, 1 wherever you tin amble done a woodsy small colony with zero Starbucks.

These traits marque you a bully campaigner for June Lake, the eastbound Sierra municipality that lives astir of its beingness successful the shadiness of bigger, busier Mammoth Lakes.

“It’s mode family-friendlier than Mammoth,” said Daniel Jones aft a time of June Lake snowboarding with Lorena Alvarado and children Gabriela Gonzales, 7, and Amirah Jones, 2. They had travel from Riverside, a first-time sojourn for the kids.

After a time of snowboarding astatine June Mountain, Daniel Jones and Lorena Alvarado of Riverside caput for the parking batch with children Gabriela Gonzalez, 7, and Amirah Jones, 2.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Like me, they’d arrived successful clip to savor the show of the Sierra nether each the snowfall that fell successful precocious December. That tempest knocked retired powerfulness for respective days, but led to the opening of each the trails connected June Mountain, the town’s skis resort.

The main roadworthy to June Lake is the 14-mile June Lake Loop, a.k.a. State Route 158, which branches disconnected from U.S. 395 astir 10 miles northbound of the exit for Mammoth, astir 320 miles northbound of Los Angeles.

Once you permission 395, things get rustic quickly. The two-lane loop threads its mode among forests and A-frames and cabins, skirting the waters of June Lake and the lake’s village, which is lone a fewer blocks long. Check retired the three-foot icicles dripping from the eaves and support an oculus retired for the large boulder by the occurrence presumption connected the right.

After the village, you walk Gull Lake (the tiniest of the 4 lakes on the loop) and the June Mountain skis area. Then, if you’re driving successful summer, the roadworthy loops backmost to 395 by mode of Silver Lake and Grant Lake.

The June Lake country successful the eastbound Sierra includes respective bodies of water. Rush Creek, seen here, feeds into Silver Lake a fewer miles from the colony of June Lake.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

But successful winter, the bluish portion of that loop is closed to cars, Maybe this is wherefore the village, upland and environs truthful often consciousness similar a snowbound secret.

As for the June Mountain skis area, its 1,500 accessible acres marque it overmuch smaller than Mammoth Mountain (with whom it shares a firm parent). And it has a larger stock of beginner and intermediate runs — a resistance for hotshots, maybe, but a boon for families.

By management’s estimate, June Mountain’s 41 named trails are 15% beginner level and 40% intermediate. (At Mammoth, 59% of 180 named trails are rated difficult, precise hard oregon highly difficult.) Leaning into this difference, June Mountain offers escaped assistance tickets to children 12 and under. (Adult assistance tickets are typically $119-$179 per day.)

From the chairlifts astatine June Mountain skis resort, visitors get wide views.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The skis country is served by six chairlifts, and conscionable astir everyone begins by riding seat J1 up to the June Meadows Chalet (8,695 feet supra oversea level). That’s wherever the cafeteria, rental equipment, lockers and store are recovered and lessons begin.

That’s besides wherever you statesman to announcement the view, particularly the 10,908-foot Carson Peak.

“Usually, maine and my household spell to Big Bear each year, but we wanted to effort thing different. Less people. And a batch of snow,” said Valeriia Ivanchenko, a 20-year-old snowboarder who was taking a breather extracurricular the chalet.

“No lines and tons of big, wide-open runs,” said Brian Roehl, who had travel from Sacramento with his wife.

“The water views are nice, too,” said Roxie Roehl.

June Lake is simply a 30-minute thrust from Mammoth. Because some operations are owned by Denver-based Alterra Mountain Co., Mammoth assistance tickets are mostly applicable astatine June. So it’s casual to harvester destinations.

Or you could conscionable absorption connected June Lake, an unincorporated assemblage with astir 600 people, 1 K-8 nationalist schoolhouse and 1 state presumption (the Shell presumption wherever 158 meets 395).

In summer, erstwhile it’s busiest, fishers and boaters caput for the lakes and you tin scope Yosemite National‘s eastbound entranceway with a 25-mile thrust via the seasonal Tioga Road.

The Tiger Bar has anchored June Lake’s downtown since 1932.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

In wintertime and summertime alike, the bosom of June Lake‘s colony is dominated by the 94-year-old Tiger Bar & Café (which was owed to beryllium taken implicit by caller owners successful January); Ernie’s Tackle & Ski Shop (which goes backmost to 1932 and has little rental prices than those astatine June Mountain); the June Lake General Store and June Lake Brewing.

At the brewery — JLB to locals — I recovered Natalie and Chris Garcia of Santa Barbara and their girl Winnie, 18 months aged and anxious to pursuit down a duck connected the patio.

“This is her archetypal snow,” Natalie Garcia said, adding that June Lake “just feels much down-home ... little of a enactment scene.”

“We built a snowman,” said Chris Garcia.

Natalie and Chris Garcia of Santa Barbara play with their daughter, Winnie, and a duck astatine June Lake Brewing.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

It’s amusive to ideate that rustic, semi-remote places similar this ne'er change, but of people they do, for amended and worse. The Carson Peak Inn steakhouse, a longtime landmark, is closed indefinitely. Meanwhile, Pino Pies, which offers New Zealand-style nutrient pies, opened successful the colony past spring. (I urge the $13 potato-top pie.)

Pino Pies, unfastened since 2025 successful June Lake, offers New Zealand-style nutrient pies.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Next clip I’m successful municipality I anticipation to effort the June Deli (which took implicit the erstwhile Epic Cafe abstraction successful the colony past year) and the June Pie Pizza Co. (New York-style bladed crusts) oregon the Balanced Rock Grill & Cantina. And I mightiness marque a time travel to Mono Lake (about 15 miles north).

I mightiness besides repetition the 2 hikes I did successful the snow.

For one, I enactment crampons connected my boots and headed astir 3 miles southbound connected U.S. 395 to the Obsidian Dome Trail, a mostly level way of conscionable nether a mile — large for snowshoes oregon walking dogs.

For the different hike, I headed to the closed information of June Lake Loop and parked conscionable abbreviated of the barricade. Beyond it, a hiker oregon snowshoer finds respective miles of carless, unplowed path, with mountains rising to your near and half-frozen Rush Creek and Silver Lake to the right.

When portion of Highway 158 closes to car postulation successful winter, hikers and snowshoers inherit a broad, mostly level way with views of Silver Lake.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

“You get up to the water and you perceive the crystal cracking. It’s wonderful,” said Mike Webb, 73, whom I met connected the way with his son, Randy, 46, and Randy’s 10-year-old and 12-year-old.

“This is serenity up here,” said Webb. “If you’re looking for a $102 pizza, spell to Mammoth.”