Devil's Post Pile is well worth a visit.
Take Highway 203 from Mammoth Lakes. The drive is about 12 or 13 miles
on a narrow one lane road at time. The hike is about 1/3 of a mile from
the dirt parking lot. The easy to walk trail leads right to the base of
the basaltic columnar pillars. This is an excellent
area to get a picture of the post piles especially at sunset when they
are directly in the sun's setting rays. I recommend climbing the short
but steep trail to the top of the post piles. This gives you a chance to
see what the top of the columns look like. They are grayish black and
they look like the outside of a soccer ball or a tile walkway. Be
extremely careful about walking the edge of the post piles. The rock on
top is very slippery and there are no fences to stop your fall in case
you did fall.
Continuing on the trail two miles past Devil's Postpile you will arrive
at the middle fork of the San Joaquin River. Near where the trail hits
the river you will find a 100 foot waterfall.
Unfortunately you *have* to take a mandatory shuttle into Devil's
Postpile now from Mammoth Ski Resort *even* in the slow season. The
forest service will turn you around at the station, several miles past
the mandatory shuttle stop if you tell them you want to just visit the
Postpile. You can tell them you are camping and this might let you
through. This is a policy that was supposedly enacted to limit the
number of cars in the area, but seems to be affect even in the late fall
and other slow seasons. If you take the shuttle, allow at least two
hours.
For more information about the Devil's Postpile National Monument call PHONE NUMBER 760.934.2289 or visit:
www.nps.gov/depo
About
Dave's Pick