Sunrise light on a grove of tufa towers emerging from the water of Mono Lake with soft green and dusty-red wild grasses in the foreground, Canada geese in the shallow water with reflections of the rocky towers, and desert hills in the distance.

Mono Basin fall colors photo album

Sunrise light on a grove of tufa towers emerging from the water of Mono Lake with soft green and dusty-red wild grasses in the foreground, Canada geese in the shallow water with reflections of the rocky towers, and desert hills in the distance.
Photo courtesy of Alicia Vennos, Mono County Tourism.
Mono Lake’s solitary cottonwood trees light up every fall (October 14). Photo courtesy of Alicia Vennos, Mono County Tourism.

Fall in the Mono Basin is always a spectacular season, when crisp nights, warm Indian summer days, short daylight hours, a low sun angle, and cool autumn rains combine to bring out the colorful foliage. We pulled together some of our favorite photos from the season for you to enjoy. Don’t forget to check out the hashtag #sierrafallcolors on Instagram to immerse yourself in the rich colors of autumn from all along the Eastern Sierra.

Photo by Elin Ljung.
The paths along Silver Lake in the June Lake Loop have canopies of color (October 15). Photo by Elin Ljung.

Silver Lake fringed in gold. Photo by Elin Ljung.
Silver Lake fringed in gold (October 15). Photo by Elin Ljung.
The whole spectrum of fall colors along Mill Creek. Photo by Bartshe Miller.
The whole spectrum of fall colors along Mill Creek (October 12). Photo by Bartshe Miller.
The meadows at Conway Summit put on a great show every year. P
The meadows at Conway Summit put on a great show every year (October 14). Photo courtesy of Alicia Vennos, Mono County Tourism.
Golden aspens along Lee Vining Creek (October 15). Photo by Arya Degenhardt.
Golden aspens along Lee Vining Creek (October 15). Photo by Arya Degenhardt.
The red and gold grasses that have grown over the exposed lakebottom of low Grant Lake Reservoir add to the rainbow of fall colors. Photo by Elin Ljung.
The red and gold grasses that have grown over the exposed lakebottom of low Grant Lake Reservoir add to the rainbow of fall colors (October 15). Photo by Elin Ljung.
More colorful goodness along Mill Creek (October 12). Photo by Bartshe Miller.
More colorful goodness along Mill Creek (October 12). Photo by Bartshe Miller.
Autumn rain dots golden leaves along the June Lake Loop. Photo by Elin Ljung.
Autumn rain dots golden leaves along the June Lake Loop (October 15). Photo by Elin Ljung.
An array of colors with some red peeking out along Lee Vining Creek (October 15). Photo by Arya Degenhardt.
An array of colors—with some red peeking out!—along Lee Vining Creek (October 15). Photo by Arya Degenhardt.
The recent thunderstorms are briging much-needed water to Mono Lake, but will probably cause colorful leaves to drop. Photo by Elin Ljung.
The recent thunderstorms are bringing much-needed water to Mono Lake, but will probably cause colorful leaves to drop (October 15). Photo by Elin Ljung.

2 Comments

  1. Having been up there many times, and am anxiously waiting to get my wife up there as well. Beautiful, wonderful area.

    Thanks for the morning photos to enjoy!