Mono Lake, California

Steven Dutch, Professor Emeritus, Natural and Applied Sciences, Universityof Wisconsin - Green Bay

Aerial Views


Below: some of the Mono Craters are visible.

Mono Lake was the filming location for the Clint Eastwood film High Plains Drifter.

	Rest stop at the junction of California 120 (Tioga Pass Highway) and US 395.

	Left and below: views of Mono Lake from the southwest.

	Left and below: tufa pinnacles

	The black mound is a rare example of a tuff ring on dry land: it was erupted under water during a Pleistocene high stand of Mono Lake.
	Left and below: looking south along the Sierra Nevada front.

	Wide-angle view looking southeast across Mono Lake
	Looking south. The Sierra Nevada front is in shadow on the far right. The distant peaks are the south wall of the Long Valley Caldera.


	Cirque in the Sierra Nevada overlooking Mono Lake.
	Looking southeast across Mono Lake. The snow-capped mountains are Montgomery and Boundary Peaks.

	Looking south along the Sierra Nevada front and the western shore of Mono Lake

	Boundary Peak and Montgomery Peak
	White Mountain Peak



	Looking east along the north shore of Mono Lake.
	Left and below: views of Mono Lake from Panum Crater, northernmost of the Mono Craters. At left is a view north along the Sierra Nevada front.




	Looking east along California 120.
	View of the Sierra Nevada front from Panum Crater.

	Left and below: Mono Lake from the tufa area.

	The tufa pinnacles are a blend of natural wonder and human blunder. The pinnacles formed from springs emerging beneath saline Mono Lake. They are visible because water from snowmelt has been diverted south to Los Angeles, causing lake levels to drop about 15 meters. As they say out west, whiskey's for drinking, water's for fighting. Court challenges by environmentalists resulted in a settlement that stabilizes the lake levels.

Created 14 July 2003, Last Update 08 June 2020