Convict Lake Loop

Trail: Convict Lake Loop Trail

Miles: 2.5

Type: Loop

My Time: 1 Hour

Elevation Gain: 180 ft.

Difficulty: Easy

Parking Permit: No

Location: Inyo National Forest

Convict Lake is one of the most popular and deepest lakes in the Mammoth Lakes area. It is located about 20 minutes south of Mammoth on Highway 395. It is extremely accessible, as you can drive up and park at it.(Does not require hiking to reach the lake) There aren’t a ton of parking spots, but if you get there early you should be able to find one. This lake is also known for swimming and fishing. There is boat ramp to launch your boat!

You can hike the entire loop around the lake which is 2 1/2 miles. We did this counterclockwise, but there was no designated direction you must hike. We did not encounter many people on a Sunday morning. If you don’t want to do the whole thing, you can just do part of it. Or there is another trail heading up into the higher parts of the mountain(Lake Dorothy or to summit Mount Morrison) I can only speak for the loop itself as that’s all that we did. It took us about 55 minutes to do the 2 1/2 miles. We just walked around to check things out and didn’t really stop much.

The trail is a narrow trail, common hiking trail. So don’t expect to have double or triple wide groups as it will be mostly single file. Some areas do have a steep drop fairly close to the trail, so be careful with those kids.

At certain points we were able to look down and actually see fish in the lake, so it was confirmed there are fish in there. If you’d like to go fishing I would recommend it. I did not witness anybody catching fish as we walked around, but does it mean it’s not possible. Nor can I speak for the fishermen out on the boats. From what I’ve read, you have a much better chance out on the lake.

This is one of the prettiest backdrops to a lake I’ve ever seen. As you pull up the mountains directly behind the lake are amazing. Mount Morrison is this sheer granite walled mountain directly behind it. Fun fact, the lake was originally carved out by glaciers. When the backdrop is snow covered, it looks gorgeous. Unfortunately I have only seen pictures of this.

I would recommend this hike to families and anyone that just wants a chill type of hike. Considering there is very very little elevation gain and short mileage. As I mentioned earlier if you want to bring your kids and only do part of it. Then just ease them into half mile or a mile at a time and not the whole 2 1/2 mile loop. Or just see how far they would like to go.

As always pack it in and pack it out.

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