Good Places To Airstream In The Owens Valley, CA

[LBOskiBear]

Originally Posted by Sgilcrest

Saw lots of CHP pulling cars over for (presumably) speeding

395 is notorious for this. It's ironic that one the open highway in the middle of nowhere, I set my cruise control for the speed limit whereas I can cruise at 80 mph in LA.

I think it's especially important to observe the limits that slow quickly when approaching the towns along 395 (Olancha, Lone Pine, Big Pine, Independence, Bishop)

[rmkrum]

True the 395 can be a speed trap, but it's because of the fools that try to pass 30 cars downhill in the dark on Sunday night southbound in a Porsche with a ski rack on it. They tend to end up as a bumper ornament on a Peterbuilt big rig. Dodging them is not an option given the deep canyons.

Been there, dodged a few, watched the first responders clear up the mess.

Garlock road, however, is an interesting place to do a performance check. Did you know a Lincoln Continental rental car can do a lovely 4 wheel drift at about 85 around some of the curves? Don't ask how I know this--I will assert my fifth amendment rights😀😀😀😀


Sent from my pocket Internet using Airstream Forums

[Breezinalong]

Having started my law enforcement career on the south end of Hwy 395, I can tell you there is a reason for aggressive traffic enforcement. In 3 years, I personally handled 17 fatal collisions. Even after moving to another agency, I still witnessed a few more while driving up/down 395 on fishing trips, includinga family who was burned to death because an idiot snowboarder wanted to get home to LA faster than traffic flow.

Of course, towing an AS means you're probably not speeding. But it also means that there's an idiot who gets frustrated with your slow driving.

[rmkrum]

Yup. The combination of narrow road, deep canyons, and impatient people really requires heavy enforcement. Northbound after dark during ski season can be very scary on Sunday nights.

I've had too many close calls on the 395. There is a lot of work being done to improve it lately, but the crazy driving still remains an issue.


Sent from my pocket Internet using Airstream Forums

[leap-baby]

Our last trip to the Eastern Sierra was in 2010. We stayed at Brown's Town just outside of Bishop. It has electric & water, no sewer. There is a dump station. We enjoyed our stay there, as it is a lovely campground and was a good place to explore the surrounding area. Highlights were the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest (out of Big Pine), Laws Railroad Museum (just outside of Bishop, Bodie State Historical Park (northeast of Lee Vining), Mono Lake, Mammoth and, of course, Yosemite. In winter, Tioga Pass Road into Yosemite is closed. In the summer, avoid Yosemite Valley, as it is a zoo! The Tuolumne Meadows area is closer and not nearly so crowded. It's beautiful and there is lots to explore there.

You mentioned hot springs. We have not been yet, but would like to check out Benton Hot Springs northeast of Bishop. They have 10 tent/RV sites that have a private hot tub, picnic table and fire pit. No hookups. http://bentonhotsprings.org/hot_tubs.php

We are looking forward to visiting the area again next summer.

[StreaminGeo]

Well, we’re back from our Owens Valley adventure after almost three weeks on the road. We started out staying at Keough’s Hot Springs, halfway between Big Pine and Bishop off of Highway 395. We really liked it. It’s almost a mile off the highway so there was minimal noise. It featured a pool and soaking tub and had a decent snack bar and a gift shop. The staff was very friendly and helpful. There were only water and electric hookups (or you could dry camp) but the bathroom/showers were never far away and were always accessible. The wifi was lightning fast and I could get crystal clear phone service by walking a hundred yards down the road towards the highway. Yes, it was somewhat rustic but it really had the feel of an old time tourist camp, like the one in High Sierra. We ended up staying there almost two weeks while we explored the neighboring towns and mountains and looked at other potential places to stay. We looked at Brown’s Millpond, Brownstown, and Highlands RV Parks but we like Keough’s better. We also saw a lot of other camping possibilities in the Inyo Forest, on BLM land, and those run by various local (eg., county) organizations. There are definitely a lot of good places to camp in the area! Two other Airstreams joined us during our stay at Keough’s, and we would definitely go back there. (The only complaint I would have about Keough’s was that we arrived without reservations and thus had to change our campsites for the first four nights! I mean, it wasn’t really their fault, and it was good practice hitching up and unhitching, but it did tie us down to the campground more than we wanted to be for several days.)

Various campsites at Keough’s Hot Springs

[StreaminGeo]

After Keough’s we went down south of Lone Pine to the Boulder Creek RV Park and stayed there for four nights. It was definitely different than Keough’s. We’ve done most of our streaming in California state park campgrounds so we found the whole RV Park experience to be different. Not necessarily bad, but different. More closed up. This place had full hookups and a nice lounge where you could get free coffee and muffins and get caught up on the news. They had a decent store with a lot of RV stuff (naturally, I guess). Like up north we explored the surrounding region, the Alabama Hills (two Airstreams boondocking back up in there!), Whitney Portal, Owens Lake, and the Independence area. One morning we awoke with a 16 foot Bambi on one side, and by the time we left we were sandwiched between it and a 27 foot Classic.
Leaving the Owens Valley proper we headed down Highway 14 and spent our last two nights at the Red Rock Canyon State Park. It was a good stay but the fuse blew on the power jack (fully extended of course) so we had to spend a lot of our free day driving into Ridgecrest to get a replacement.
Finally it was time to come home, so we did. All in all it was another great Airstreaming trip. We can’t wait for our next one in a few weeks, taking the southern route from California to Dallas for Thanksgiving.

Our sites at Boulder Creek and Red Rock Canyon.

[batman]

Hey, StreaminGeo.

Thank you for the update with photo's, and the great reviews.

We have not stayed at Keough’s or Boulder Creek. They sound nice though.

We have stayed at Red Rock and love it. We like booney camping and enjoy hiking and exploring natural areas (like Red Rock).

Hope to see you "out there"

-Dennis