summer fun in mammoth lake region with kids

One of our recent road trips took us to the Mammoth Lakes ski resort region near the California-Nevada border. Pretty impressive I must say – and plenty to see and do in summertime! I was so surprised how well the kids take the long ride (and we don’t even have DVD players in the car) and happily played, read, drew and slept for hours on our way there and back.

Since we only stayed a couple of days and the schedule with kids needs to allow time for naps, eating and snacking and child-pace walking we did not have that many things on the to-do list. We still managed to take the gondola to the top of Mammoth Mountain and enjoy a lunch, a play in the snow and a little walk there, walk around the earthquake fault zone (pretty impressive at least for me as my first major in university was geology), visit the actual lakes around Mammoth Lakes, go swimming several times, do some shopping (Ralph Lauren and sales!), hike a total of seven miles on one day.

The last one was a special achievement as it was pretty hot and our 2-year-old twins did about 4 miles of that trek themselves. We were rewarded with changing landscapes, the unique Devil’s post-pile, a rainbow at Rainbow Falls and lots of little animals and huge logs to walk on. Super fun but tiring! The skiing slopes were used by hundreds of bikers going down the hill on every possible speed and style – it was fun to watch also…One of the key tips when staying with little kids (repeating my words again) is to stay in a hotel/apartment with a good kitchen as it makes a huge difference on how your little ones eat – and ultimately sleep too.

The Westin Monache Resort was a great place to stay with its superb kitchen, plenty of sleeping space, amazing mountain views and heated outdoor pool and hot tubs. As a destination Mammoth Lakes and the surrounding region is great for young families too.

Far-reaching views on the way up

I can see snow!

On the way to the top and 11 000 ft

Amazingly wide earthquake fault line

One of those beautiful Mammoth Lakes

This kind of sums it all – first stop Devil’s postpile followed by Rainbow falls. Total day’s walk was around 7 miles and our 2-year-old twins walked/ran/skipped about 4 miles altogether. We were very impressed, and Hugo was asking a couple of days later at home to go for a walk again!