It had been 25 years since I had been to Mammoth Lakes when we finally went again in 2019. I remember being a young adult and driving up to Mammoth with friends. It was a magical ski weekend and I wanted so badly to go back soon. However, life happened and 25 years went by before we made the trip from Santa Clarita to Mammoth again.
Our friends had encouraged us to make reservations in The Village the first week of January. Because Santa Clarita schools don’t normally go back until the 2nd week of January, a lot of Santa Clarita residents head to Mammoth during that first week of the year. We saw SO many people- it was a blast. Staying in The Village was so fun and convenient – you are right in the middle of restaurants, bars, and steps from the gondola that takes you to Canyon Lodge. In the end, we decided staying in the Village was a little louder than we prefer so we now stay about a ½ mile from there in town.
Mammoth is an easy 4.5 drive from the Santa Clarita area. Unlike driving to Southern California mountain communities, the drive is smooth, straight, and is almost completely a divided highway, which I love. I hate passing on those country roads so I appreciate the wide, divided roads. There are no switch backs and steep roads. In fact, it feels like you are driving just through a flat desert and then all of the sudden, boom, you are at 8000 ft altitude and in a mountain town.
Mammoth Lakes is a year round destination. The skiing is phenomenal (so much better than Southern California) and so worth the extra couple of hours in the car to get there. There is so much more to do though: hiking, fishing, tennis, biking, golf, snowmobiling, sledding, dining, Yosemite in the summer, and so much more. The town of Mammoth has beautiful biking and walking trails that make “loops” around the area. The paths are protected from the streets and are sooo beautiful.
The town is also so fun –everything is close together so you can walk (in good weather) to restaurants, coffee shops, shopping, and grocery stores. It’s common to run in to people you know from Santa Clarita so that’s super fun!
So go to Mammoth! I promise you’ll be so happy you did. You’ll love the fresh air, the beautiful scenery, and the fun mountain town.
