Nestled at the edge of the arid Great Basin and the snowy Sierra Nevada mountains in California, Mono Lake is an ancient saline lake that covers over 70 square miles and supports a unique and productive ecosystem. The lake has no fish; instead it is home to trillions of brine shrimp and alkali flies. Freshwater streams feed Mono Lake, supporting lush riparian forests of cottonwood and willow along their banks. Along the lakeshore, scenic limestone formations known as tufa towers rise from the water's surface. Millions of migratory birds visit the lake each year.

The trees of the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains an hour’s drive to the east of Bishop are the oldest recorded living thing on earth. A millennium older than the Giant Sequoia trees in the nearby Sierra, many are well over 2,000 years old and the “Methuselah” tree in Schulman Grove is dated at more than 4,773 years old. These trees were young and growing at the time stone axes were being used in Europe, the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) was being built, and cuneiform clay tablets were being used in northern Syria.
Bristlecone pines (Pinus longaeva & aristata) grow in the White Mountains at elevations 9,000 to over 11,000 feet. The oldest trees grow on outcrops of dolomite, an alkaline calcareous, low nutrient soil. Only on the alkaline dolomite will you find pure, relatively dense stands of Bristlecone pine.

The Alabama Hills, a recreation area located in the shadow of Mt Whitney and the high Sierras, was a favorite movie location for old Hollywood and a staple of more cowboy movies then you can count. Throughout the last century, the Alabama Hills have appeared in hundreds of movies with even a recent Quintin Tarantino project being filmed here. When you visit the Alabama Hills though it is easy to see why it has become so popular. The surrounding mountains and sweeping desert give way to this small plot of majestic rocks that can’t cover more than a couple of square miles of the area. Other than this section there is nothing like them to the North or South, and because of that, they make for a unique day of exploration. The park itself has a lot of famous spots, but nothing is marked, and the uniqueness of this makes it feel like you are exploring something new every time you go. The only signs I have seen in the entire area are for the trailhead to Mobius Arch, other than that the Alabama Hills are a collection of dirt roads and rocks, allowing the explorer to craft whatever adventure their mind creates. However, if you are looking for some of the main attractions and movie locations, what follows are some of the most famous spots in this Alabama Hill.