This is Day 1 of the Ultimate California and Oregon Road Trip.

Highway 395 is an incredible stretch of road running hundreds of miles along the eastern edge of California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range. It’s also hot as hell, which is why we rose early to head to our first destination: The Alabama Hills.

Alabama Hills

Ever wondered what it would be like to walk on the moon, or some far-distant planet from your favorite science fiction book? Take a trip to Alabama Hills and find out! This is a dusty, barren area in eastern California with incredible rock formations, all framed by snow-capped mountain peaks in the distance. Movies ranging from Iron Man, Gladiator, and Django Unchained (plus a ton of older ones) all filmed scenes in this sprawling, gray landscape.

TIP: The road throughout the Alabama Hills is largely a gravel road. I would not call it “unpaved,” but it got a bit bumpy. Despite that, it was no problem for a smaller car like our 2022 Honda Accord Hybrid. Also, there is weak to non-existent cell service once you get into the park. Be sure to have a map downloaded on your phone or have a physical map with the route you want to take before you arrive.

The Alabama Hills greet visitors with a rock painted like a face. You can’t miss it, and it is well worth stopping and taking a few photos. Climbing up to it, you can see the rock formations across the land and get a good feel for what you are in for.

TIP: Plan on arriving early in the day, because it gets HOT. We arrived around 9:30 am, and temperatures were already pushing 90. Bring water. Wear sunscreen. Then again, we did go in August.

Let’s get this out of the way: My wife and I are not hikers. If you are, there are dozens of hiking trails throughout this park that I am sure will tickle your fancy.

Even for non-hikers, I highly recommend the roughly half-mile Mobius Arch loop. This was a relatively easy hike — there were a few ups and downs, and unfortunately, it is not accessible for anyone with physical disabilities. But we did see a child who I would guess was about five years old walking it with his parents.

The trail takes you through, among, and in between incredible rock formations. As you walk down short hills, you truly feel like you are on another planet. Dusty trails lead to rocks jutting out of the ground like stone alien fingers, fists, and limbs. Your view is limited to the rocks in front of you, until you round a corner for an incredible view of Mount Whitney (the highest peak in the continental United States) and the rest of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the distance.

The trail takes roughly 45 minutes, depending on your pace and how often you pause to try and capture the landscape in a photograph. The highlight of the trail is Mobius Arch, which you can climb up to (I did; my wife passed). From behind it, you can frame a photo through Mobius Arch with Mount Whitney, but I wasn’t adventurous enough to hop around to get the necessary spot.

TIP: From the parking lot for this hike, start your loop hike on the right-hand side. This takes you through beautiful formations and ends with the Mobius Arch. If you are crunched for time and just want to see the Mobius Arch, go left and you’ll get there fairly quickly.

Whether you go for one hike, several hikes, or no hikes, the drive through the Alabama Hills is absolutely worth it. Even just from the car, the scenery is awe-inspiring. It is such a unique spot with rock formations, and the surrounding desert and mountains only make it more magical.

We took about 2 hours total for the drive through plus our hike. Because the road is a little rough, you are forced to drive slowly, which was fine with us because it gives more time to enjoy the beauty all around. The drive puts you back on 395, where we continued just a few miles north to our next destination of the day.

Manzanar National Historic Site

“May the injustices and humiliation suffered here as a result of hysteria, racism, and economic exploitation never emerge again.” That’s part of a quote on the historical marker at the entrance to Manzanar National Historic Site, the location where the American government detained more than 11,000 people of Japanese ancestry for roughly three years during World War II.

The historic site is part museum and part preservation site focused on remembering both the tragedy of internment camps as well as the grit, determination, and perseverance of those who endured this sad chapter in America’s history.

The first thing to remember is that this internment camp was built very quickly on a desolate tract of land in the middle of a desert. Though beautiful to visit, living there could not have been easy. Temperatures in the day regularly reach over 100 degrees, with winds that blow dirt through cracks in walls and floors. At night, temperatures dip low, given the thin air.

The museum did a wonderful job describing what life was like for individuals and families who were forced to live at the camp. Photos and first-hand accounts showed all areas of life, from housing to schools to growing food. Though placed in horrific conditions, the museum was at its best when showing how the prisoners overcame obstacles, supported each other, and did their best to thrive despite unjust treatment.

Outside the museum, all the buildings were torn down when the camp closed, but a few have been recreated so visitors can witness what life would have been like. Even early-ish in the day, it was hot inside the cabins that would have housed families and individuals.

In addition to the museum, there is a driving route around what was the entire internment camp. This really gives a scope of the size of this internment camp — one of more than a dozen around the country — that imprisoned people. There is a map you receive at the beginning that shows where different buildings would have been, including churches, gardens, and a baseball field. The drive does not take long, and I highly recommend doing it.

It is impossible to visit such a historical site in 2025 and not see direct parallels with the atrocities currently carried out by those in charge of our government. Despite the admonition on the plaque outside the museum, our country is once again in the grips of racist hysteria aimed at certain groups of people. It was unacceptable when it happened in the 1940s, and it is unacceptable now.

TIP: Don’t vote for politicians who embrace, celebrate, or justify the mass incarceration and deportation of individuals. These actions are based on the same hysteria and racism that created internment camps like Manzanar.

Highway 395

This whole day’s journey was along California Highway 395, a great combination of desolate and beautiful scenery. The Sierra Nevadas blocks clouds and rain from going east, leaving a desert landscape framed by snowcapped mountains. The road runs mostly parallel to the mountain range, but occasionally veers towards them. In these instances, the road seems to be driving straight into the mountains. It’s breathtaking.

And because the land is mostly flat, you can see for miles and miles from the car as you are driving. There aren’t many fellow travelers, so there are times it feels like you are a lone traveller across a great expanse. The sky looks amazingly big, without a cloud in sight. If you like road trips, this is a wonderful stretch of highway to drive.

And there are more places to stop than we had time for. If you want to learn more, I recommend California Through My Lens.

The Lakes

About 100 miles north of Manzanar on Highway 395, you arrive at what I call the Lake District of 395. That’s not what it is actually called, but it should be. Within a 40-mile stretch of road, you drive past Crowley Lake, the Mammoth scenic drive; June Lake scenic loop, and visit Mono Lake. This incredible stretch of road is well worth the visit.

Crowley Lake is huge, and we didn’t stop. Just admire it as you drive by. It is a welcome difference from the stark desert landscape that you’ve been travelling through all day.

Past Crowley Lake, there are several hot springs that one could visit. We stopped at one, but I’ll be honest — there are better places to check out. Check back later for a cool stop where we not only saw hot springs, but bubbling, boiling mud!

We did take the Mammoth scenic loop, which is a few miles past Crowley Lake. And I’ll be honest — I was underwhelmed. Don’t get me wrong; it was a nice drive. We passed through a massive forest with beautiful trees on both sides of the road. And the shade was a nice contrast to the bright sun of the open desert road. But there was nothing magical about the loop.

In contrast, I thoroughly enjoyed (and recommend) the June Lake Loop. This name is deceptive because you actually pass by five lakes on this short, 15-mile loop. I highly recommend starting from the southern entrance off of Highway 395, like we did. If you do, you come to “Oh! Ridge” named for the exclamation sure to escape your lips when you first encounter June Lake. The road comes up a hill to a ridge, which then displays a magnificent, clear blue lake nestled among tree-covered hills. Definitely worth a stop for a quick photo.

And the drive only gets better from there. The five lakes were created by glaciers scraping across the land, and it is incredible to see the beauty left by such a destructive act. The loop takes you up and down, so you can see the lakes from both ridges hundreds of feet up as well as along the shoreline. Take your time and enjoy. In addition to the sights, the temperature is much more moderate, in part because of the elevation. Another relief from the desert heat earlier in the day.

The scenic loop plops you back on Highway 395, where we continued north through the town of Lee Vining before arriving at Mono Lake. This lake is massive, and one of our favorite places on the entire road trip.

Mono Lake sits at the western edge of a huge western basin, with the Great Salt Lake of Utah on the eastern edge. Both Mono Lake and the Great Salt Lake have incredibly high salt contents because of particular geologic reasons that I won’t get into here.

But what makes Mono Lake unique is the presence of tufas. Don’t know what a tufa is? Neither did we! These are alien-looking rock formations that form from mineral deposits being fed into the lake from underground springs. The minerals from the springs interact with salt in the lake and eventually form these bonkers-looking rock formations. They normally stay underwater, but because Mono Lake has dropped in volume over the past 70 years (due to water being diverted from sources to cities), the tufas are visible. In fact, you can walk among them!

I highly recommend driving to Mono Lake and walking the half-mile loop through tufas to the shore of the lake. There are wonderful signs along the way that describe how tufas are formed, as well as the unique plant and animal life that is thriving in the environment. Plus, the tufas as ridiculously cool to see up close! (We walked among the tufas on the morning of Day 2, but I put it here because it felt more natural to include it in this section about the lakes.)

TIP: Book a room at Tioga Lodge just north of Lee Vining. All the rooms have a spectacular view of Mono Lake. And as a bonus, the lodge is on the western edge of the lake, meaning you can wake up to AMAZING sunrise views. Which we did.

That’s a wrap for Day 1. In total, the journey was a little over 200 miles. Although as we learned throughout this trip, don’t trust GoogleMaps for time estimates when driving. Every day, it took longer than the estimates. Build in extra time for issues like road construction, stopping to take photos, and just a general relaxed vibe of a road trip.

Up next: The Sonora Pass and Ebbetts Pass over the Sierra Nevada mountains!