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Cottonwood Lakes Trail

Intermediate Intermediate
 4.3 (23)
  1. Areas
  2. CA
  3. …High Sierra
  4. Inyo National Forest
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“Hike to scenic alpine lakes from one of the highest trailheads in the Sierra Nevada. ”

Miguel Vieira
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Map Key

6.1

Miles

9.8

KM

Point to Point

11,187' 3,410 m

High

10,033' 3,058 m

Low

1,261' 385 m

Up

120' 37 m

Down

4%

Avg Grade (2°)

15%

Max Grade (8°)

Dogs Off-leash

Features Lake · Views · Wildflowers

Description

Head north through pine forests along Cottonwood Creek. Pass the junction with the New Army Pass Trail at 3.5 miles. The trail turns west and at around 4.5 miles you enter an open meadow with excellent views of the Sierra Crest ahead. Continue on and pass Cottonwood Lake Three on your left and then end at Cottonwood Lakes Four and Five.

Contacts

Land Manager: USFS - Inyo National Forest Office

Shared By:

Miguel Vieira
Full Details

Trail Ratings

  4.3 from 23 votes

#2

in Inyo National Forest

#386

Overall
  4.3 from 23 votes
5 Star
35%
4 Star
57%
3 Star
9%
2 Star
0%
1 Star
0%
Trail Rankings

#2

in Inyo National Forest

#43

in California

#386

Overall
5 Views Last Month
4,212 Since Jan 5, 2017
Intermediate Intermediate
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Photos

The look up at Cirque Peak from the Cottonwood Lakes Trail can be utterly stunning.
Jan 6, 2017 near Lone Pine, CA
There's great camping at Cottonwood Lake Number Five beneath Mount Langley.
Jan 6, 2017 near Lone Pine, CA

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Weather

Current Trail Conditions

All Clear 87 days ago
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Check-Ins

Aug 29, 2021
Carl Hartenstein
Did a portion of this as a warm-up for Mount Whitney. 6.3mi — 2h 56m
Sep 7, 2020
Erick Morales
Jul 5, 2020
Damien Sutevski
Nov 9, 2019
Andrew S
Oct 5, 2019
bernard romero
Sep 21, 2019
William Nicolas
with Nich. we camped at lake 3
Jul 20, 2019
Kaija Vs
Sep 16, 2018
Teresa Brecht
out after langley summit. back to cars by 5pm

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