Easily found on the highway 6 miles south of Bridgeport (look for the old-fashioned windmill by the roadside), Virginia Creek has a number of accommodation types, all designed with a retro Old West theme. Ever wanted to bed down in a covered wagon like a pioneer? Tent cabins and woodsy motel rooms are also available – the latter can be a little musty.
The on-site restaurant is one of the best in the area, serving hearty Italian fare.
15.72 MILES
North America’s second-oldest lake is 70 sq miles, and a quiet and mysterious expanse of deep blue water. The glassy surface reflects jagged Sierra peaks,…
10.56 MILES
At Bodie State Historic Park, a gold-rush ghost town is preserved in a state of 'arrested decay.' Weathered buildings sit frozen in time on a dusty,…
23.08 MILES
Stretching nearly 3 miles from Pothole Dome in the west to Lembert Dome in the east, Tuolumne’s main meadow is beautiful to behold, especially at sunset,…
28.08 MILES
Just east of Olmsted Point, the shiny blue surface of Tenaya Lake (8150ft) looks absolutely stunning framed by thick stands of pine and a series of smooth…
19.71 MILES
Peculiar-shaped tufa spires ring the shimmering Mono Lake, but the biggest grove is on the southern rim, with a mile-long interpretive trail. The bizarre…
7.59 MILES
A stroll down a hillside brings you to this out-of-the-way (though it can still get crowded) hot spring. Water emerges piping hot and cools as it trickles…
22.88 MILES
Above the north shore of the Tuolumne River, carbonated mineral water burbles silently out of Soda Springs, a small natural spring that turns its…
19.77 MILES
Rising above the southern shore of Mono Lake, Panum Crater is the youngest (about 640 years old), smallest and most accessible of the craters that string…
5.1 MILES
The gavel has been dropped since 1880 at this courthouse, an all-white Italianate dreamboat surrounded by a gracious lawn and a wrought-iron fence. On the…
5.19 MILES
In an 1880 schoolhouse, this museum has mining artifacts on display from all the local ghost towns, plus a room of fine Paiute baskets. Only open during…
7.59 MILES
A stroll down a hillside brings you to this out-of-the-way (though it can still get crowded) hot spring. Water emerges piping hot and cools as it trickles…
10.56 MILES
At Bodie State Historic Park, a gold-rush ghost town is preserved in a state of 'arrested decay.' Weathered buildings sit frozen in time on a dusty,…
11.61 MILES
On the north shore of Mono Lake are the Black Point Fissures, narrow crags that opened when a lava mass cooled and contracted about 13,000 years ago…
11.79 MILES
Constituting 128,000 acres of backcountry paradise, Hoover includes the Virginia Lakes, Lundy Lake and high peaks to the west bordering Yosemite National…
7. Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest
13.68 MILES
At 6.3 million acres, this is the largest national forest in the lower 48 states. Most of it is in Nevada, with a small portion around Bridgeport in…
15.72 MILES
North America’s second-oldest lake is 70 sq miles, and a quiet and mysterious expanse of deep blue water. The glassy surface reflects jagged Sierra peaks,…