June Lake and Oh Ridge Campground

Oh Ridge Campground, near the charming town of June Lake, is one of the few reservable campgrounds near Mono Lake (see a partially outdated list of campgrounds here). Oh Ridge is in the high desert of the Mono Basin (elevation 7,600 ft). Most of the campsites are in the exposed sagebrush, but some of the loops do face the beautiful glacial lake of June Lake and there are a few trees to provide shade.

I recommend that you call the campground (instead of using the online system at www.recreation.gov) to make a reservation if you are tent-camping. If you call a camp host, you can request a site with a wind shelter. The first night that we were there, the wind was quite fierce, and we worried that our tent was about to collapse! Luckily, the wind died down after that. Having a wind shelter at our site (#141, Deer Loop), made a huge difference in the evenings when we were cooking dinner. It cast shade on us, and it made it much easier to keep the propane flame going in our camp stove. 

The beach at June Lake is open to the public free of charge. Even if you are not camping at Oh Ridge, it is worth coming to this gorgeous lake. The lake is shallow enough that you can swim and wade in the water. The water is still cold, but it is much warmer than Lake Tahoe.

Overall, this campground is quite nice. It is a bit crowded and it is very exposed to both wind and sun; however, you can make reservations ahead of time, it has flush toilets in the loops and easy access to drinking water, there are coin showers very close by at the Pine Cliff Resort, and more than adequate bear lockers. We loved June Lake--it was one of the major highlights of our trip--and we enjoyed seeing the deer eating the sage each night. White prickly poppies lined the roads, and little chipmunks scurried around the campsites.