Pine City Campground

My family and I drove up to mammoth lakes where we had a camping reservation for 3 nights. our campsite didn’t feel “wild” or quiet in nature as we could easily see a shopping center with a starbucks right across the street. my boyfriend drove us around mammoth where we stumbled across pine city campground / lake mary. the camp host, jonah, pointed out a vacant campsite alongside his that was available for the next 3 nights. the quiet campground was pretty much overlooking lake mary and we knew we got lucky. i canceled the campsite that was in town and started to settle down. the whole camping trip was amazing. the whole 9 yards when it comes to camping - s’mores, card games, and family-bonding all while under the constant tension of being in bear territory. one part of the trip that i know will stick with us forever was talking to our camp host and neighbor, Jonah. He was the friendliest, most easy-going camp host ever with the 2 most beautiful cats, Cyrus and Lucy. Saying “Hi” to Jonah and having interesting conversations everyday felt like talking to a friend you’ve known forever. we hope to come across Jonah and the cats again sometime in the future. Thanks Jonah, Lucy, Cyrus, & Pine City Campground for the most special camping trip!

If you want to experience Mammoth Lakes and stay on Lake Mary this is the place. The camp host was very nice, helpful and kept the bathrooms very clean. With only 10 sites it can be challenging to get a spot big enough or one at all. We had to set up our chairs and wait for someone to pull out to get a site. Some of the spots are right on top of each other so make sure you have the right spot in mind when staking it out.

The spots are all primitive and have a lot of trees so getting electricity is a bit of a dance but worth it for the spot. There was plenty of easily accessible water and the water tastes amazing. The closest dump is a bit of a squeeze to get into (at Twin Lakes) but not too far away. The spot itself has a slope to it and took a few blocks under our jack to get level and was a bit of a squeeze to get in and out once day trippers started parking across the road.

There is plenty of hiking behind the campground or just up the road and the Lake Mary boat house rents boats for a reasonable price. The closest grocery is in town in Mammoth which is down the mountain and takes about 15-20 minutes.