Twin Lakes and Bridgeport, California
Bridgeport, California – It’s been quite a while, but we were finally able to get away from Sacramento with our 5th wheel and some of the family to see some new California areas last weekend! This small town is further than the quick weekend getaway from Sacramento, but we’ve been wanting to visit the area for a while and we finally got enough time off to do so.
Bridgeport is a small town in eastern California, Mono County – we actually went into Nevada and back into California to get there on 395. Taking this trip, you need to be careful with the route you choose.
There are very high mountain passes and with pulling the trailer, you risk overheating your brakes. On this trip to Bridgeport, we learned not only that fact (and we thought we took a safer route going over Kingsbury grade), but we also learned more about our Ford F450 and the trailer braking system and manual transmission.
This area is a high desert county. and is known for a lot of outdoor activities including hiking, fishing, camping, cabin rentals, rving, and more. It is a seasonal area, with snow in the winter, closing down a lot of the activities and camping.
Twin Lakes out of Bridgeport
We stayed in an RV park, Twin Lakes Resort, on Lower Twin Lake, a pretty area outside the town of Bridgeport, with a few more trees than in the actual town of Bridgeport. No cell phone service in this area which can sometimes be a good thing!
This resort, along with Mono Village on Upper Twin Lake, has RV spaces, cabins for rent, store, deli, and marina with boat rentals. Doc and Al’s is another park with RV spaces and cabins for rent. We chose Twin Lakes Resort as they let us make specific site reservations, plus they had the boat rentals right next to the campground. Doc and Al’s is first come first serve. I like knowing I’ll have a place to camp after driving 5 hours – LOL.
We stayed quite busy during our 4-day stay. One day we rented a patio boat and the family (minus me who doesn’t fish) went fishing. I joined up with them mid-morning and went for the boat ride.
Twin Lakes are very pretty alpine lakes and a beautiful area surrounded by the towering mountains. There is a beautiful view of Matterhorn Peak, the tallest mountain in the Sawtooth Ridge in the High Sierra. This is a great view to have every day from where you are staying!
We wandered in to check out the town of Bridgeport one day – and found the local ice cream shop
(of course). There are actually quite a few places to eat in this town, and all looked like they had their share of people. We had dinner at the local Mexican restaurant, which was good. We look forward to going back and trying more of the local fare.
Bodie State Historic Park
Another day we took a trip was to Bodie State Historic Park, and really enjoyed seeing this Ghost Town. Bodie State Historic Park showcases what life was like during the gold rush. Bodie is one of the largest unrestored ghost towns where you can explore houses, shops, saloons, churches, and more. There is a 13-mile drive into Bodie from the main highway, and the last three are pretty rough dirt road. I don’t suggest going with an RV. Plus parking is a little tight although they did show an RV overflow parking area past the regular parking lot.
Travertine Hot Springs
Travertine Hot Springs was another place that we visited when driving around the area. We did not however get into the hot springs as it was already a very hot day! It was a pretty walk with a great view just wandering the area. And there are picnic tables, which we used to have our picnic lunch.
This area has a handful of small hot pools and springs with stunning views of the surrounding Sierras in the background. This area is not far out of the town of Bridgeport. Don’t take your RV unless you are driving something small. It’s a little parking lot with a small turn around area. We saw a couple of small trailers pull in, and wondered how they would get out.
