A while back we ranked the five best hikes in the Eastern Sierra using a weighted scoring system, and published the math so anyone could argue with it. This is the rest of the top ten, counted down from ten to six. Same system, same weights, same scale — a trail scored here can be compared directly against one scored there.
A refresher on the criteria:
Scenic drama — 35%. Vertical relief, rock architecture, how much big country you see at once.
Water — 25%. Number of lakes, their color, how close the trail brings you.
Reward per mile — 20%. How soon the scenery starts.
Access — 10%. Road condition, drive off Highway 395, parking, permit friction for a day hike.
Solitude — 10%. Whether you can find quiet.
One thing worth saying before the list. The top five spread across a wide range — 8.85 down to 7.35. These five are packed into a quarter of a point, 7.25 to 7.00. They are, for practical purposes, tied. The order below is what the math produced, but if you hiked all five and ranked them differently, you wouldn't be wrong. Pick by what's close to where you're sleeping.
All five are day-hikeable and none require a permit for a day hike. Overnight rules are listed under each. Season is roughly July through October, with two exceptions noted below that have shorter windows.
10. Cottonwood Lakes — 7.00
Trailhead: Cottonwood Lakes, 10,050 ft. From Lone Pine, take Whitney Portal Road west about three miles, then left on Horseshoe Meadow Road for roughly 20 miles. The road climbs six thousand feet in switchbacks. It's paved, it's slow, and it's worth it.
Distance: About 11.5 miles round trip into the lakes basin. Elevation gain: Roughly 1,150 ft — the lakes sit at about 11,200 ft. Permit: None for a day hike. Overnight runs on a quota of 60 people per day from May 1 to November 1: 36 reservable through Recreation.gov, 24 held for walk-ins. Bear canister required.
Lakes: Five numbered lakes plus Muir Lake and South Fork Lakes off to the sides. They hold golden trout, California's state fish, and this is one of the few places you'll see them.
Peaks in view: Mount Langley, 14,026 ft, stands over the basin to the southwest — the southernmost fourteener in the Sierra and the easiest of them to climb, via Old Army Pass from Cottonwood Lake 4. Cirque Peak sits south of it.
Why it's tenth: The terrain here is gentler than anything else on either list — broad, open, rolling basin rather than a walled canyon. That's a genuine pleasure to walk through and it costs points on drama. The trade is space: at 10,050 feet you start high, the grade is easy, and it's the least crowded trailhead in the top ten. If you want a big day at altitude without a punishing climb, this is the one.
9. Convict Lake — 7.05
Trailhead: Convict Lake, about 7,850 ft. From Highway 395 between Bishop and Mammoth, take Convict Lake Road two miles west. Paved, five minutes off the highway, with a resort and restaurant at the lake.
Distance: 2.5 to 3 miles for the full shoreline loop. Elevation gain: Around 100 ft. It's flat. Permit: None, ever, for the loop. Overnight travel up Convict Creek into the John Muir Wilderness requires a permit through Recreation.gov.
Lakes: One, and it does a lot of work. Convict Lake runs deep turquoise against dark rock, and the light on it in the first and last hour of the day is the reason photographers keep coming back.
Peaks in view: Mount Morrison, 12,241 ft, rises straight off the southeast shore in one of the most abrupt walls in the range. Laurel Mountain, 11,812 ft, stands north of it. Both are built from old metamorphic rock — red, gray, and banded, folded into visible layers. They look nothing like the clean gray granite everywhere else on this list, and that contrast is the whole appeal.
Why it's ninth: It scores near-perfect on access and reward per mile — you park and you're there, and the loop is flat enough for almost anyone. What it can't offer is an alpine lake chain or a day above 10,000 feet. It earns its place on the strength of two mountains and one extraordinary body of water. Go at dawn.
8. Sabrina Basin (Blue Lake) — 7.10
Trailhead: Lake Sabrina, about 9,150 ft. From Bishop, take CA-168 west roughly 18 miles to the end. Paved. Parking is limited and fills; the overflow lot adds a walk.
Distance: 6 miles round trip to Blue Lake. Continue to Dingleberry, Topsy Turvy, Hungry Packer, and the basin opens up for as long as you want to keep going. Elevation gain: About 1,430 ft to Blue Lake at roughly 10,400 ft. Permit: None for a day hike. Overnight through Recreation.gov, Sabrina Basin trailhead. Bear canister required.
Lakes: Blue Lake first, sitting in granite. Beyond it the basin holds Dingleberry, Emerald, Topsy Turvy, Baboon, and Hungry Packer — one of the densest concentrations of alpine water in the range if you're willing to walk for it.
Peaks in view: Mount Thompson, 13,494 ft, and behind it Mount Darwin at 13,831 ft, one of the highest summits in this part of the Sierra. Picture Puzzle and Mount Haeckel fill out the skyline at the head of the basin.
Why it's eighth: The climb to Blue Lake is steady and mostly exposed, which makes the first three miles feel longer than they measure. Once you're up, the basin is superb and keeps getting better the deeper you push. It's the strongest "keep walking" trail on this list — the payoff curve rises the whole way in.
7. Twenty Lakes Basin — 7.20
Trailhead: Saddlebag Lake, about 10,087 ft — the second-highest road-accessible trailhead in the Sierra after Mosquito Flat. From Lee Vining, take CA-120 west over Tioga Pass, then right on Saddlebag Lake Road for about two and a half miles of rough dirt.
Distance: 8 to 9 miles for the full loop around the basin. A water taxi across Saddlebag Lake runs in summer, about $8 one way or $13 round trip, and cuts roughly two miles off. Elevation gain: Around 1,000 ft across the whole loop. Permit: None for a day hike. Overnight is Hoover Wilderness — permit through Recreation.gov.
Lakes: The name undersells it slightly, but not by much. Greenstone, Wasco, Steelhead, Shamrock, Helen, Odell, Hummingbird, and more, strung around a loop with the Conness Lakes reachable on a side trip of about 6 miles round trip and 1,200 feet.
Peaks in view: North Peak, 12,242 ft, and Mount Conness, 12,590 ft, stand over the west side of the basin, with a small glacier still hanging beneath Conness.
Why it's seventh, and the catch: More lakes per mile than anywhere except Little Lakes Valley, on nearly flat ground, starting above 10,000 feet. On the numbers it should rank higher. Two things hold it down. The peaks here top out in the 12,000s rather than the 13,000s and 14,000s that define the rest of this list, so the walls feel lower. And access depends entirely on Tioga Pass, which closes with the first serious storm — usually November — and often doesn't reopen until late May or June. This is the shortest season of any hike on either list. Check the pass before you plan anything.
6. Shadow Lake and Thousand Island Lake — 7.25
Trailhead: Agnew Meadows, 8,360 ft, in the Reds Meadow valley west of Mammoth. From Mammoth Lakes take Minaret Road past the ski area to Minaret Vista. During the summer season the road below the vista is closed to private vehicles and you must ride the shuttle bus — check the current schedule and fare before you go, since the shuttle dictates when you can start and when you must be back.
Distance: About 7.6 miles round trip to Shadow Lake. Roughly 17 miles round trip to Thousand Island Lake, which is a long day. Elevation gain: Around 1,300 ft to Shadow Lake; about 3,100 ft on the full Thousand Island loop. Permit: None for a day hike. Overnight is Ansel Adams Wilderness through Recreation.gov, with separate quotas by trail — High Trail and River Trail each have their own. Bear canister required.
Lakes: Shadow Lake sits below a headwall about three and a half miles in. Push on and you reach Garnet Lake and then Thousand Island Lake, which is scattered with rock islands and is one of the most photographed places in the Sierra Nevada.
Peaks in view: Banner Peak, 12,945 ft, and Mount Ritter, 13,143 ft, standing together as a double summit above Thousand Island Lake. South of them, the Minarets — a sawtooth ridge of a dozen and a half spires, the most jagged skyline in the range.
Why it's only sixth: On pure scenery it scores a 10, the same as Big Pine Lakes, and Ritter and Banner over Thousand Island Lake is arguably the finest single view in the Sierra Nevada. Two things bury it. Seventeen miles round trip makes Thousand Island a serious day rather than a hike, and the mandatory shuttle adds a layer of logistics no other trail here demands. Turn around at Shadow Lake and you have a reasonable day with a real view. Go the distance and you've earned something better than anything on this page — you just won't do it casually.
The scores
| Rank | Trail | Scenery | Water | Reward/mile | Access | Solitude | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Shadow / Thousand Island | 10 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 7.25 |
| 7 | Twenty Lakes Basin | 7 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 7.20 |
| 8 | Sabrina Basin | 8 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 7.10 |
| 9 | Convict Lake | 8 | 5 | 9 | 10 | 2 | 7.05 |
| 10 | Cottonwood Lakes | 7 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 7.00 |
Weights: scenery 35%, water 25%, reward per mile 20%, access 10%, solitude 10%.
Two of these results deserve a note. Thousand Island Lake has the highest scenery score in the entire top ten, tied with Big Pine, and finishes sixth because the system punishes seventeen-mile days and mandatory shuttles. And Convict Lake, which is a two-mile flat loop most people wouldn't call a hike, beat two proper alpine trails on the strength of access and immediacy. Both outcomes are the system working as designed — it rewards what you actually get for the effort you actually spend. If that's not how you choose a hike, adjust the weights and re-rank.
Before you go
Everything above except Convict Lake starts near or above nine thousand feet, and three of them start above ten thousand. If you're coming from the coast, sleep a night on the east side first. Drink more than you think you need. Turn around if a headache becomes nausea.
Two hard constraints on this list: Tioga Pass controls Twenty Lakes Basin and closes for most of the year, and the Reds Meadow shuttle controls Agnew Meadows during the summer season. Both change year to year. Confirm before you commit at our conditions and closures page, where we keep every source we use.
Every trail here is one we've walked. We don't publish a route we haven't.