California

Cottonwood Lakes Trail – Inyo National Forest

Published Sep 5, 2020

Updated Nov 1, 2024

2 min read

Cottonwood Lakes Trail is a 16 mile trek in the Inyo National Forest, right outside the town of Lone Pine California.

Your visit to one of Inyo National Forest’s best trails gives you an important responsibility to follow all USFS rules regarding trails, fires, camping, and wildlife. I hope you love this trail as much as I do! This post may include affiliate links that help me earn a small commission (it costs you nothing) when you make a purchase through one.

Cottonwood Lakes Trail is in the Inyo National Forest right outside the town of Lone Pine California. The Loop which can lead you to 5 lakes, starts from Horseshoe Meadow and travels from the Golden Trout Wilderness into John Muir Wilderness. The trail is 16 + miles roundtrip and traverses a mostly sandy bottom for the first 4 miles.

The trail to lake #1 rises at a very low grade for about the first 3 miles before escalating up some rocky stairs, before hitting the plateau where lake #1 is located. The Cottonwood Lakes are at over 10,000 feet in elevation at the base of the Eastern Sierras and Mt. Langley. From Lake #1 you can go for a swim, have a picnic or spend the night before continuing on.

You can chose to complete the loop section anyway you like. There are trails that shoot off from this loop that head to Muir Lake, South Fork Lake and New Army Pass.

While this makes for a great day hike, the best way to see this area is on a multi day backpacking trip up Cottonwood Lakes loop to New Army Pass, Mt Langley or even Mt Whitney. There are 13 campsites at the parking lot, and about a dozen campsites for horse camping, but once you get on the traill, there are no designated campsites. Wilderness camping is allowed for groups smaller than 15 just make sure you apply for a permit well in advance with the Inyo National Forest through Recreation.gov.

Temperatures by the lakes and in this forest are about 20-30 degrees cooler than the town of Big Pine. Always prepare for your hike by bringing a few layers, ample water and an emergency kit.

This area of the Inyo National forest allows all kinds of activities as well from backpacking, hiking, skiing, mountaineering, horse camping and fishing in the Golden Trout Wilderness and John Muir Wilderness.

Always follow the principles of Leave No Trace, plan ahead, prepare and pack out what you pack in.