Like Mammoth without the crowds: A guide to June Lake
You are a beginning or intermediate skier, allergic to long lift lines, more interested in peace and quiet than après-ski action. Or you have young kids, ripe for introduction to skiing or snowboarding. Or you simply want a rustic mountain getaway, one where you can amble through a woodsy little village with zero Starbucks.
These traits make you a good candidate for June Lake, the eastern Sierra town that lives most of its life in the shadow of bigger, busier Mammoth Lakes.
“It’s way family-friendlier than Mammoth,” said Daniel Jones after a day of June Lake snowboarding with Lorena Alvarado and children Gabriela Gonzales, 7, and Amirah Jones, 2. They had come from Riverside, a first-time visit for the kids.
After a day of snowboarding at June Mountain, Daniel Jones and Lorena Alvarado of Riverside head for the parking lot with children Gabriela Gonzalez, 7, and Amirah Jones, 2.
(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
Like me, they’d arrived in time to savor the sight of the Sierra under all the snow that fell in late December. That storm knocked out power for several days, but led to the opening of all the trails on June Mountain, the town’s ski resort.
The main road to June Lake is the 14-mile June Lake Loop, a.k.a. State Route 158, which branches off from U.S. 395 about 10 miles north of the exit for Mammoth, roughly 320 miles north of Los Angeles.
Once you leave 395, things get rustic quickly. The two-lane loop threads its way among forests and A-frames and cabins, skirting the waters of June Lake and the lake’s village, which is only a few blocks long. Check out the three-foot icicles dripping from the eaves and keep an eye out for the big boulder by the fire station on the right.
After the village, you pass Gull Lake (the tiniest of the four lakes along the loop) and the June Mountain ski area. Then, if you’re driving in summer, the road loops back to 395 by way of Silver Lake and Grant Lake.
The June Lake area in the eastern Sierra includes several bodies of water. Rush Creek, seen here, feeds into Silver Lake a few miles from the village of June Lake.
(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
But in winter, the northern part of that loop is closed to cars, Maybe this is why the village, mountain and environs so often feel like a snowbound secret.
As for the June Mountain ski area, its 1,500 accessible acres make it much smaller than Mammoth Mountain (with whom it shares a corporate parent). And it has a larger share of beginner and intermediate runs — a drag 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, very difficult or extremely difficult.) Leaning into this difference, June Mountain offers free lift tickets to children 12 and under. (Adult lift tickets are typically $119-$179 per day.)
From the chairlifts at June Mountain ski resort, visitors get broad views.
(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
The ski area is served by six chairlifts, and just about everyone begins by riding chair J1 up to the June Meadows Chalet (8,695 feet above sea level). That’s where the cafeteria, rental equipment, lockers and shop are found and lessons begin.
That’s also where you begin to notice the view, especially the 10,908-foot Carson Peak.
“Usually, me and my family go to Big Bear every year, but we wanted to try something different. Less people. And a lot of snow,” said Valeriia Ivanchenko, a 20-year-old snowboarder who was taking a breather outside the chalet.
“No lines and lots of big, wide-open runs,” said Brian Roehl, who had come from Sacramento with his wife.
“The lake views are nice, too,” said Roxie Roehl.
June Lake is a 30-minute drive from Mammoth. Because both operations are owned by Denver-based Alterra Mountain Co., Mammoth lift tickets are generally applicable at June. So it’s easy to combine destinations.
Or you could just focus on June Lake, an unincorporated community with about 600 people, one K-8 public school and one gas station (the Shell station where 158 meets 395).
In summer, when it’s busiest, fishers and boaters head for the lakes and you can reach Yosemite National‘s eastern entrance with a 25-mile drive via the seasonal Tioga Road.
The Tiger Bar has anchored June Lake’s downtown since 1932.
(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
In winter and summer alike, the heart of June Lake‘s village is dominated by the 94-year-old Tiger Bar & Café (which was due to be taken over by new owners in January); Ernie’s Tackle & Ski Shop (which goes back to 1932 and has lower rental prices than those at June Mountain); the June Lake General Store and June Lake Brewing.
At the brewery — JLB to locals — I found Natalie and Chris Garcia of Santa Barbara and their daughter Winnie, 18 months old and eager to chase down a duck on the patio.
“This is her first snow,” Natalie Garcia said, adding that June Lake “just feels more down-home … less of a party scene.”
“We built a snowman,” said Chris Garcia.
Natalie and Chris Garcia of Santa Barbara play with their daughter, Winnie, and a duck at June Lake Brewing.
(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
It’s fun to imagine that rustic, semi-remote places like this never change, but of course they do, for better and worse. The Carson Peak Inn steakhouse, a longtime landmark, is closed indefinitely. Meanwhile, Pino Pies, which offers New Zealand-style meat pies, opened in the village last spring. (I recommend the $13 potato-top pie.)
Pino Pies, open since 2025 in June Lake, offers New Zealand-style meat pies.
(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
Next time I’m in town I hope to try the June Deli (which took over the former Epic Cafe space in the village last year) and the June Pie Pizza Co. (New York-style thin crusts) or the Balanced Rock Grill & Cantina. And I might make a day trip to Mono Lake (about 15 miles north).
I might also repeat the two hikes I did in the snow.
For one, I put crampons on my boots and headed about 3 miles south on U.S. 395 to the Obsidian Dome Trail, a mostly flat route of just under a mile — great for snowshoes or walking dogs.
For the other hike, I headed to the closed portion of June Lake Loop and parked just short of the barricade. Beyond it, a hiker or snowshoer finds several miles of carless, unplowed path, with mountains rising to your left and half-frozen Rush Creek and Silver Lake to the right.
When part of Highway 158 closes to auto traffic in winter, hikers and snowshoers inherit a broad, mostly flat path with views of Silver Lake.
(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
“You get up to the lake and you hear the ice cracking. It’s wonderful,” said Mike Webb, 73, whom I met on the trail 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, go to Mammoth.”