Lake Mary Campground
1Heads up1 fire 38 mi away
- Right now
- Listed not openA database flag with no reason and no date
- A night
- $34From, per site
- Sites
- 48All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 12 notices
In the agency’s own words
Lake Mary is the star of the Mammoth Lakes region. Of the 11 lakes in the area, Mary is the largest and most developed. Lake Mary Campground is a large facility with plenty of amenities in and around it. The lake provides a great base for activities like fishing, viewing waterfalls, hiking and backpacking. Keep reading
Recreation
Lake Mary receives the highest number of trout stocks in the Mammoth Lakes Basin, and is well-known to anglers for its rainbow, brook and brown trout fishing. No swimming or wading is allowed in the lake. Though no hiking trails begin in the campground, several interesting trails offer a variety of hikes nearby, including day hiking and backpacking trails into the rustic John Muir Wilderness.
Facilities
The campground straddles the road at the northwest end of Lake Mary, and offers four loops of closely-spaced campsites. The campground is within walking distance of the lake, and some sites have a view of the water.
Natural Features
The campground lies among lodgepole pine trees at an elevation of 8,900 feet. Some campsites have views of the breathtaking scenery surrounding the campground, including Lake Mary and some of the 9,000 and 10,000' peaks in the John Muir Wilderness. The Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains are abundant with wildlife, including black bear, mountain lions, mule deer, pine marten, pika and many species of fish and birds.
Nearby Attractions
Mammoth Lakes Basin contains several additional popular lakes to explore for fishing and boating. Visitors can also access the magnificent John Muir Wilderness nearby, which stretches 100 miles along the crest of the Sierra Nevadas, a land of lofty snow-capped mountains, deep canyons and vast expanses of glacially-carved terrain. Hiking and horseback riding trails are abundant.
Charges & Cancellations
As you make travel plans that include reservations on Recreation.gov , there are standard policies that apply to most locations of which you should be aware. Do keep in mind, however, that there are many exceptions, so it is best to review reservation information listed on individual facility pages for those policies and procedures that pertain to your specific locations. Any location or activity requiring a permit or lottery will have unique requirements and policies. Please check individual facility pages for pertinent information for those sites. Change and Cancellation Policies and Fees Overnight and Day Use Facilities: To ensure fairness, reservation arrival or departure dates may not be changed beyond the booking window until 18 days after booking the reservation. Camping / Day Use: A $10.00 service fee will apply if you change or cancel your reservation (including campsites, cabins, lookouts, group facilities, etc.). The $10.00 service fee will be deducted from the refund amount. You can cancel or change reservations through Recreation.gov or by calling 1-877-444-6777. Late Cancellations Overnight and Day Use Facilities: Late cancellations are those cancelled between 12:01 a.m. (Eastern) on the day before arrival and check out time on the day after arrival. Individual Campsites: If a customer cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival they will be charged a $10.00 service fee and will also forfeit the first night's use fee (not to exceed the total paid for the original reservation). Cancellations for a single night's reservation will forfeit the entire use fee but no cancellation fee will apply. Cabins / Lookouts: Customers will be charged a $10.00 cancellation fee and forfeit the first night's use fee if a cabin or lookout reservation is cancelled within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date. Cancellations for a single night's use will not be assessed a service fee. Group Facility: If a customer cancels a group overnight facility reservation within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date they will be charged the $10.00 service fee and forfeit the first night's use fee. Cancellations for a single night's use will not be assessed a service fee. Group Day Use Area: If a customer cancels a group day use facility reservation within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date, they will forfeit the total day use fee with no service fee charge. No-Shows Camping / Day Use: A camping no-show customer is one who does not arrive at a campground and does not cancel the reservation by check-out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date. Reserved campsites and group overnight facilities will be held until check-out time on the day following your scheduled arrival. Group day-use facilities will be held until check-in time on your scheduled arrival date. If a customer does not arrive at the campground or group facility by check-out time the day after arrival or does not cancel the reservation by the times listed under "Late Cancellations" above, the customer may be assessed a $20.00 service fee and forfeit use fees. Tours: A tour or ticket no-show is one who does not cancel a ticket before arrival and does not arrive for the tour. Tour no-shows are not entitled to a refund. Refunds Customers must request refunds no later than 14 days after the scheduled departure date. Recreation.gov will not grant refund requests after 14 days of departure. Reservation Fee: For some facilities, tours or permits an additional reservation fee is charged. For some overnight and day-use facilities, an additional non-refundable reservation fee may apply. The non-refundable reservation fee for tours and tickets is $1.00. The non-refundable reservation fee for permits varies by location. Refunds for Bankcard Purchases: Refunds for bank card payments will be issued as a credit to the original bank card. Refunds for Check or Cash Purchases: Refunds for Recreation.gov payments made by check or money order, and cash payments at selected campgrounds will be issued a check refund. A refund will be processed within 30 days of receipt and approval. Please Note: Refund requests made during or after departure can only be processed when approved by the facility management staff based upon local policy. Refunds for Emergency Closures: In the event of an emergency closure, the Recreation.gov team will attempt to notify users and offer alternate dates (as appropriate). If this is not possible, reservations will be cancelled and all fees paid will be refunded. Reservation fees for free tickets are non-refundable in the event of an emergency closure. Recreation.gov Billing Information Reservation transaction will appear on customer's credit card statements as " Recreation.gov 877-444-6777." Changes to Policies and Procedures Recreation.gov reserves the right, when necessary, to modify reservation policies. These policies were last updated July
What the agency tells you
Campground usually not clear of snow until late May or early June
No body contact allowed with the lake, including swimming
This is a high elevation facility; please use caution when traveling from lower elevations
Everything else this campground posts · 9
Be bear aware; keep all food out of sight in approved containers or locked inside your vehicle and remove all food from area after eating; always keep a clean camp and do not feed any wild animals
Only 2 pets per site allowed.
Please Note: One RV with tow per single site or one vehicle per tent site. Most sites can accommodate 1 extra vehicle that is not included with the reservation fee. In accordance with standard industry practices, Inyo Recreation will assess an additional $10.00 extra vehicle fee per day for the second vehicle in each single family campsite, and on the third and fourth vehicle in any double family campsite, provided these vehicles are not joined to the first vehicle by a hitch and towed onto the site. In the case of motorcycles, the first two are considered one vehicle, and the third and fourth motorcycle are also considered one vehicle. No additional vehicle fees are collected for bicycles. Extra vehicles must fit on the parking spur.
Reserved Sites will be held until checkout time (NOON) the day following your arrival date. Sites must be occupied by the checkout time of the second day to hold a reservation or the site will be forfeited and released to other guests. Please call the office at 760-934-5795 if you need to inform the campground of an arrival time greater than 24 hours after your arrival date, or if you will not use your reservation whatsoever.
Fire Restrictions: Fire restrictions may be imposed at any time due to hot, dry weather conditions, at which time campfires and charcoal fires may not be allowed. For current fire conditions or weather closures contact the Mammoth Lakes Visitor Center, (760) 924-5500, or the Mono Lakes Visitor Center, (760) 647-3044.
Once your reservation start date has begun, neither the Recreation.gov Contact Center nor the campground manager will be able to modify your reservation.
Don't Move Firewood: Protect California's forests from tree-killing pests by buying your firewood locally and burning it on-site. For more information visit firewood.ca.gov.
Inyo National Forest website
PASS DISCOUNTS: You must provide your pass and photo identification upon check in. If you received a pass discount for which you were not eligible, you must pay the difference in price upon arrival.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 48
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 21 ft
- Paved pads
- 46 of 48
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Waterfall, Lake
- Fishing
- Visitor center
- Night sky · 580th darkest of 1,201 in CA
- Bortle 3
- Fall color · reported 14 days ago, 2 km away
- Peak color
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 13
What you actually pay
“In accordance with standard industry practices, Inyo Recreation will assess an additional $10.00 extra vehicle fee per day for the second vehicle in each single family campsite, and on the third and fourth vehicle in…” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $34 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
“Camping / Day Use: A $10.00 service fee will apply if you change or cancel your reservation (including campsites, cabins, lookouts, group facilities, etc.). The $10.00 service fee will be deducted from the refund amount.” · this campground’s own no-show terms
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 7
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
48 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 48 mapped sitesAll 48 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 48 of the 48 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 48 of the 48 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 001 | standard nonelectric | 17 ft | 38 ft | 276 ft | 2,062 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 002 | standard nonelectric | 17 ft | 37 ft | 271 ft | 2,024 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 003 | standard nonelectric | 17 ft | 36 ft | 302 ft | 2,008 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 004 | standard nonelectric | 17 ft | 36 ft | 321 ft | 1,980 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 005 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | 36 ft | 402 ft | 1,927 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 006 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 36 ft | 416 ft | 1,901 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 007 | standard nonelectric | 19 ft | 50 ft | 184 ft | 1,728 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 008 | standard nonelectric | 19 ft | 30 ft | 131 ft | 1,682 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 009 | standard nonelectric | 19 ft | 33 ft | 92 ft | 1,651 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 010 | standard nonelectric | 19 ft | 34 ft | 149 ft | 1,679 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 011 | standard nonelectric | 19 ft | 30 ft | 114 ft | 1,654 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 012 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | 31 ft | 65 ft | 1,582 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 013 | standard nonelectric | 21 ft | 31 ft | 90 ft | 1,585 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 014 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 31 ft | 116 ft | 1,592 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 015 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 51 ft | 166 ft | 1,634 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 016 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 45 ft | 262 ft | 1,687 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 017 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 45 ft | 217 ft | 1,689 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 018 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 47 ft | 237 ft | 1,643 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 019 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 47 ft | 196 ft | 1,631 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 020 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 34 ft | 173 ft | 1,654 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 021 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 31 ft | 168 ft | 1,688 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 022 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 31 ft | 164 ft | 1,718 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 023 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 28 ft | 574 ft | 2,118 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 024 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 28 ft | 586 ft | 2,145 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 025 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 35 ft | 602 ft | 2,179 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 026 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 37 ft | 622 ftLake Mamie | 2,213 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 028 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 36 ft | 497 ft | 2,196 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 029 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 36 ft | 525 ft | 2,226 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 030 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 36 ft | 553 ft | 2,258 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 031 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 27 ft | 586 ft | 2,288 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 032 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 27 ft | 612 ft | 2,307 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 033 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 32 ft | 643 ft | 2,320 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 034 | standard nonelectric | 14 ft | 28 ft | 673 ftLake Mamie | 2,339 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 035 | standard nonelectric | 14 ft | 27 ft | 652 ftLake Mamie | 2,344 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 036 | standard nonelectric | 14 ft | 27 ft | 625 ftLake Mamie | 2,336 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 037 | standard nonelectric | 16 ft | 41 ft | 529 ftLake Mamie | 2,297 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 038 | standard nonelectric | 16 ft | 35 ft | 498 ftLake Mamie | 2,259 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 039 | standard nonelectric | 16 ft | 35 ft | 478 ftLake Mamie | 2,225 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 040 | standard nonelectric | 14 ft | 36 ft | 486 ftLake Mamie | 2,195 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 041 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 39 ft | 518 ftLake Mamie | 2,184 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 042 | standard nonelectric | 14 ft | 43 ft | 560 ftLake Mamie | 2,193 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 043 | standard nonelectric | 14 ft | 44 ft | 590 ftLake Mamie | 2,234 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 046 | standard nonelectric | 14 ft | 22 ft | 232 ft | 1,840 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 047 | standard nonelectric | 14 ft | 22 ft | 246 ft | 1,855 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 048 | standard nonelectric | 14 ft | 24 ft | 260 ft | 1,869 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 049 | standard nonelectric | 14 ft | 24 ft | 257 ft | 1,867 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 050 | standard nonelectric | 14 ft | 33 ft | 234 ft | 1,845 ft | $34 |
| LAKE MARY CAMPGROUND | 051 | standard nonelectric | 14 ft | 42 ft | 195 ft | 1,808 ft | $34 |
25 of 48 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions
Where it is
Twin Lakes CampgroundInyo National Forest · 0.6 mi
Coldwater Campground - Inyo NF (CA)Inyo National Forest · 0.8 mi
New Shady Rest CampgroundInyo National Forest · 3.7 mi
Old Shady Rest CampgroundInyo National Forest · 3.9 mi
Pine GlenInyo National Forest · 3.9 miReds Meadow CampgroundInyo National Forest · 3.9 miTake U.S. 395 to Mammoth Junction and Highway 203. Turn west on Highway 203 and drive through the town of Mammoth Lakes to the junction of Minaret Road/Highway 203 and Lake Mary Road. Continue straight through the intersection and drive 3.6 miles to Lake Mary Loop Drive. Turn right and drive 0.5 miles to the campground entrance.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Mammoth Lakes, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 20°F, day 61°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 8°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Lake Mary Campground is in California’s 3rd congressional district. Its representative, Kevin Kiley (I), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →