Taking you past the beautiful Shadow Lake and to the absolutely stunning Ediza Lake, this aptly named Shadow and Ediza Lakes Trail is a stunner in the Eastern Sierra. This is a longer hike at around 13 miles, but if you can handle the miles, the views here make it all worthwhile!
Starting at the iconic Agnew Meadows Trailhead outside of Mammoth Lakes California, the trail makes its way into the Ansel Adams Wilderness to the base of the iconic Minarets, a set of jagged peaks in the Ritter Range. If you’re looking for incredible views, iconic Sierra Nevada terrain, and a great long but moderate day on the trail, this is an awesome hike to consider!
Miles/Elevation:
13 miles
1,774 feet vertical gain
About Inyo National Forest:
At nearly 2 million acres, Inyo National Forest is a massive area of soaring peaks, desert, ancient forest, and incredibly rugged alpine terrain. Inyo contains the Big Pine Lakes, Mt Whitney, the lower 48’s highest peak, along with some of the world’s oldest living things, the ancient bristlecone pines.
Covering large swathes of the Eastern Sierra Nevada and White Mountains, as well as much of the Owens Valley, Inyo National Forest actually is one of the least forested national forests in the country. First protected by president Theodore Roosevelt in 1907, the forest was initially created to facilitate the creation of the Los Angeles Aqueduct.
Nowadays, Inyo National Forest is much more well known as a world class outdoor destination. With renowned wilderness areas such as the Ansel Adams Wilderness, the Golden Trout Wilderness, and the John Muir Wilderness, many of the best backpacking routes in the country pass through Inyo.
In addition to backpacking, there are many other amazing locations in Inyo National Forest that can be easily accessed in a day, either by hiking or by car. These include Mammoth Lakes, Convict Lake, the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, June Lake, and Mt Whitney.
Much of Inyo National Forest does not require fees for day use, though some limited access locations may require fees. There is no fee to park at Convict Lake.
About Mammoth:
Located on the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada, Mammoth is a small mountain community known for great skiing, alpine lakes, and world class hiking. The town itself, Mammoth Lakes, named for the numerous nearby lakes, has about 7,000 people, and is one of the largest communities for hours in any direction.
At around 8,000 feet of elevation, Mammoth lies just above the desert treeline. Head out of town and within a mile you’ll be in the scrubland of the high desert. Head towards the high peaks of the Sierra and you’ll very quickly enter the alpine pine forest!
Mammoth Mountain is home to the area’s top ski resort. At just over 11,000 feet, this volcanic complex gets great snow in winter, and in the summer is converted into a mountain biking mecca!
Above the town, the lakes basin offers tons of camping. Situated around Lake Mary, Lake George, Horseshoe Lake, Twin Lakes, and others, campgrounds like Coldwater and Lake Mary provide hundreds of wooded sites. Just don’t expect much for phone coverage up here!
Getting To Mammoth:
The first challenge in getting to this trailhead is to get to the Eastern Sierra. The closest town is Mammoth Lakes, and that will be most people’s base camp when visiting Heart Lake.
Located in the high desert of eastern California, Mammoth is a surprisingly remote place considering it’s in California. The closest sizable city is Reno, about three hours to the north. Los Angeles and Las Vegas are both a bit over 4 hours away, and the Bay Area is about 6 hours away.
The main highway to access Mammoth and the broader Eastern Sierra area is highway 395. 395 runs from just north of the Los Angeles area all the way north to the Canadian border. Reno to Bishop is a straight shot down 395, and Los Angeles is a straight shot north on 395.
There are a couple of small airports in the area, namely Bishop and Mammoth Lakes. However, commercial flights are either sporadic or non-existent. Driving from a larger metro is the easiest way to access the Eastern Sierra for most.
Getting To The Trailhead:
From Highway 395, take the highway 203 exit towards Mammoth. Continue through town and turn right onto Minaret Road to stay on 203. Continue past the ski area to Minaret Summit.
Minaret Summit marks the beginning of the restricted use area that requires you to deal with some red tape. Beyond Minaret Summit, the road is closed to passenger vehicles between 7 am and 7:30 pm. You’ll either need to get an early start and beat the road closure, or take the shuttle bus from Mammoth Mountain. Be warned, even if you drive in yourself before the closure, you will have to pay a fee upon your exit if the gate is manned.
Beyond Minaret Summit, follow Postpile Road for about 3 miles as it descends into the valley. After about 3 miles, Postpile Road takes a 180 degree left turn. At this curve, take a right onto Agnew Meadows Road. The trailhead is just a few hundred feet up this gravel road!
Shadow And Ediza Lakes:
Agnew Meadows to the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River
After arriving at the Agnew Meadows Trailhead and finding a rough corner of a dirt parking lot to park in, I headed off on to the trail! I wasn’t able to park at the official trailhead lot, which is very small, so I had a short road walk to get to the official start of the hike.
The Mammoth Crest Loop is one of the best difficult hikes in Mammoth!
The terrain for the first ¾’s of a mile is mostly flat as you walk through meadows and pine forest. The name of the trailhead, Agnew Meadows, kind of gives away what the environment looks like here, but you’ll be walking through forest as well. The mosquitos were brutal here when I did this hike in June, so definitely bring bug spray in early summer!
After a flat opening ¾’s of a mile, you’ll reach the rim of a valley as the trail takes a right hand turn. Here, you will begin your descent towards the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River. Yes, I did say descent. Unfortunately, there is an opening descent which does mean there is a closing climb to this hike. Unfortunate, but oh well, it’s not too bad!
Always be sure to follow the 7 Leave No Trace Principles when in the outdoors!
After a short 300 or so foot descent down a rocky and at times nicely exposed trail, you’ll arrive in the river valley. You won’t immediately cross the river, or even get right up to it’s banks. Instead, you’ll follow the valley north for about a mile, hiking through the woods of the valley floor. The mosquitos here were pretty unreal, so definitely be warned!
Emerald Lake is a nice easy hike in Mammoth!
There’s a small lake that you’ll walk past (really it’s closer to a pond) which is probably the source of many of the mosquitos, but for the most part, the hiking in the valley is pretty uneventful. After a mile long hike through the valley, the trail veers left towards the river and a small wooden bridge across.
Middle Fork of the San Joaquin To Shadow Lake:
Check out Heart Lake for another easy hike in Mammoth!
You’ve just arrived at the bridge crossing the Middle of the San Joaquin, and from here the climbing starts in earnest! Almost immediately after crossing the river, you’ll be faced with the steepest climb of the day.
Your goal from the river crossing is to climb up and out of the other side of the valley, following a creek that tumbles steeply down from Shadow Lake. You’ll be able to see this creek for most of the climb, so until you can see where it comes from, keep climbing!
The climb out of the valley is pretty steep, but it’s only about 600 feet in total. Not a huge climb, but it is steep, and the trail is a bit loose and rocky. In the morning, this climb really wasn’t bad, but when I was hiking out in the early afternoon, I met a few people really struggling with this climb in the afternoon heat!
Mammoth has tons of bears so make sure to be bear safe!
As you climb, you’ll get better and better views looking down the valley, across the valley, and at the waterfall that descends from your destination, Shadow Lake. The mountains across the valley aren’t anything spectacular, they’re the large rolling behemoth type mountains. However, looking down the valley, the view is pretty great as you look over Devils Postpile and beyond!
Once you crest the top of the waterfall, you’ll be able to see it’s source, Shadow Lake. The lake really is right at the top of the climb, and pretty much falls right into the waterfall and down into the valley. Congrats on making it to the first lake of the day!
Shadow Lake to Ediza Lake:
Shadow Lake is a pretty big alpine lake, and the trail makes its way all the way around the right side of it. There are a ton of great places to sit on the far side of the lake, but the view right when you reach the lake is the best. Looking over Shadow Lake, you have an excellent view looking towards the towering peaks of the Minarets off in the distance, close to the final destination of the day!
I hiked around to the far side of Shadow Lake and then found a nice sunny spot to relax and have a mid morning snack. The trail is really close to the lake for most of the distance, but on the far side it opens up and there are some nice rocks along the water to sit on.
After leaving Shadow Lake, you’ll quickly reach a pair of intersections. Here, the trail meets, briefly follows, and eventually splits off from the John Muir Trail. The JMT is a legendary backpacking route through the High Sierra, and you’ll be following it’s route for about half a mile!
Convict Lake is a stunning place to hike just outside Mammoth!
At the first intersection, turn right and hike on the JMT for around half a mile. After half a mile, stay left to leave the JMT and continue to Ediza Lake.
The trail between Shadow Lake and Ediza Lake follows Shadow Creek through a series of drops, waterfalls, and bends as it descends from Ediza Lake. You won’t encounter any massive waterfalls that drop hundreds of feet, but there’s some really cool waterfalls that you can get up close and personal with!
In the distance, you’ll be able to see the mountains that tower over Ediza Lake in the distance. While the views along this part of the trail are only teases, it’s exciting to be able to see the jagged ridges and know you’re getting closer!
The final approach to Ediza Lake is a bit confusing. The Alltrails map shows two trails approaching the lake. One continues on the right side of the creek, which you’ve been on the whole time. The other, marked, route requires you to cross Shadow Creek, which at this point is actually closer to a river and is pretty wide.
I followed the Alltrails route even though I had to hop across the creek along rocks and dead trees. There was a sign saying the trail staying on the right was closed, and I didn’t want to violate Leave No Trace. After a tricky river crossing, the trail headed away from the creek and into some rocks. After a minute or two, I emerged at Ediza Lake.
Always follow basic trail etiquette when on trail!
The first thing that catches your eye as you emerge at Ediza Lake is the pyramid known as Mt Ritter. This nearly 13,000 peak is one of the most iconic and visually stunning peaks in the Sierra. As your eye moves left across the water, the serrated ridgeline known as the Minarets dominates the skyline, creating a seemingly impossibly brutal ridge.
I’ve gotta say, I’ve been to more than a few mountain lakes, and this was definitely one of the prettiest ones. It’s hard to draw a set of mountains that would be more visually impressive than the ones actually there, and the lake itself is beautiful too! Crystal clear water fringed by green grasses and mountain pines.
This is definitely one of the prettiest alpine lakes you are going to find!
Hiking Out:
After sitting at Ediza Lake for quite a long time, I made my way back down towards the trailhead. There are a couple of different places you can hike to beyond Ediza Lake (Volcanic Ridge, Iceberg Lake, etc.) but I had a pretty messed up ankle, so the 13+ miles just to get to Ediza and back were plenty for me!
The hike out is pretty straightforward, just follow the trail back the way you came. It’s honestly pretty tough to get lost. The intersections with the Muir Trail are obvious because you can see Shadow Lake for a lot of the descent, so just hike towards it. Beyond Shadow Lake, descend down to the river and up the other side!
The descent from Shadow Lake back down to the river was a little rough. It had gotten pretty hot out, and my ankle was super sore, so I had to move slowly on the steep and loose descent. I also encountered a few people really struggling with the ascent, so I stopped a couple of times to talk to different people on the trail! If you ever see someone visibly struggling, definitely check in and make sure they’re ok. Heat stroke or exhaustion can be deadly in the wilderness.
The final climb back up to Agnew Meadows was a killer. It’s not a big climb, only 300 feet or so, but I was sore, it was hot out, and I was around 13 miles in! After struggling up the rocky trail chased by mosquitos, I made it back up to Agnew Meadows and the trailhead!
This was a pretty long day out on trail, but it was certainly rewarding! Shadow and Ediza Lakes are incredible destinations, and the trail itself was largely very enjoyable. This hike takes you through some beautiful alpine wilderness, and was a highlight of the summer!
Topdown Lifestyle Rating: 9/10
This trail takes you through beautiful Sierra terrain through one of the great wilderness areas in the country to an absolutely stunning final destination. I can’t give this hike a 10/10 because the views for most of the trail are good, not great, and there aren’t any truly exposed or exciting sections of trail.
This is definitely a worthwhile hike, and should definitely be on your list of hikes to do in the Mammoth area and Eastern Sierra. It’s not the best hike in the Sierra because the views are not constant throughout the hike, and there’s no truly special parts of the trail, but the views at Ediza Lake make this hike worth it alone, and the rest of the trail is very nice too!
Pros:
- Multiple alpine lakes
- Incredible views
- Smooth, well maintained, trail
Cons:
- Stretches of uneventful trail
- Final climb back to trailhead
Alternative Hikes:
Thousand Island Lake via Rush Creek Trail
When To Hike To Shadow and Ediza Lakes:
The Eastern Sierra in general have an excellent climate for hiking, and that holds true for the Mammoth area. Most days from spring until late fall you will have tons of sunshine, and storms are pretty sporadic, possible, but not daily.
The limiting factor with this hike is snow. Snow can linger into the summer, and early winter storms could snow this area in early in the year. As a general rule, I’d expect this area to be snow free from June until sometime in late October or November.
In terms of the ideal time to visit, I would probably lean towards early summer, just after the trails are clear of snow, or fall. In early summer, the trail should be clear of snow by June, but the mountains will still have snow up high! In fall, you would be able to see some awesome colors as winter arrives!
I think the big one though is that early season fires are much less common than fires in late summer or fall, so you are more likely to have clear, sunny days that are not choked with smoke in the early summer!
Links For Further Reading:
Ediza Lake Hiking Detail, hiking trail near Mammoth Lakes, California
5 Comments