Bunsen Peak

Distance: 4.2 miles round-trip
Duration: 2-3 hours
Elevation: 7,250 feet with a 1,300-foot climb
Effort: moderately strenuous
Trailhead: 5 miles south of Mammoth on the Mammoth-Norris Road, across from the Glen Creek Trailhead

This trail begins a short way up the Bunsen Peak Road (closed to motor vehicles) from the Golden Gate entrance and climbs through forest and meadow to the top of Bunsen Peak, where you’ll find panoramic vistas of the entire region. Return via the same path.

Osprey Falls

Distance: 8 miles round-trip
Duration: 5-6 hours
Elevation: 7,250 feet
Effort: strenuous
Trailhead: 5 miles south of Mammoth on the Mammoth-Norris Road, across from the Glen Creek Trailhead

This dirt track is open to hikers and mountain-bikers but closed to cars. Follow it 2.5 miles to the Osprey Falls Trail, where a steep path (no bikes allowed) drops 700 feet in less than a mile to the base of this 150-foot waterfall. You’ll need to climb back out the same way, so don’t get too late a start.

Beaver Ponds Loop

Distance: 5 miles round-trip
Duration: 2-3 hours
Elevation: 6,240 feet
Effort: moderate
Trailhead: between Liberty Cap and the stone house next to Mammoth Terraces

This trail begins with a 350-foot climb up and above Clematis Gulch. Turn right at the junction with Sepulcher Mountain Trail, and the trail soon levels out and rambles through meadows and aspen to a series of beaver ponds. Past here, the route loops back to Mammoth through forests and grassland. This trail provides a good opportunity to see mule deer, elk, pronghorn antelope, and moose, but it is best hiked in the spring or fall when temperatures are lower. Black and grizzly bears are sometimes seen along the way, so be sure to make noise while you walk.

Sepulcher Mountain Trail

Distance: 11 miles round-trip
Duration: 6-8 hours
Elevation: 6,240 feet with a 3,400-foot elevation gain
Effort: strenuous
Trailhead: between Liberty Cap and the stone house next to Mammoth Terraces

Follow the Beaver Ponds Trail to the Sepulcher Mountain Trail junction and then climb sharply (you’ll be sweating) through forest and meadows to the top of this 9,652-foot peak just northwest of Mammoth. Return the same way or via a loop trail that continues along the opposite side of the mountain through an open slope to the junction of Snow Pass Trail, which descends to the Howard Eaton Trail, and then back to Mammoth. You’ll find abundant late-summer flowers in the expansive meadows on the south side of Sepulcher Mountain (named for several strange rocks at its summit). Before heading out, check at the visitor center to see if there are any major bear problems in the area and to get a topographic map and hiking tips.