Devils Postpile
National Monument
Devils Postpile
National Monument
Acreage- 798.46,
all federal
Seasons - open during summer; exact opening & closing dates are weather-dependent.
Information - (760) 934-2289
Reds Meadow Road will open to the public on Saturday, June 12, 2004 with mandatory shuttle service to the valley from 7:00 AM to 7:30 PM daily. Under the Reds Meadow Fee Project, all visitors accessing the recreational opportunities and activities in the Reds Meadow Valley pay a per-person user fee during the entire season. Passes will be available at the Shuttle Bus Terminal at Mammoth Mountain Main Lodge Gondola Building, and at Minaret Station for those few exceptions that are not required to ride the bus.
A variety of passes will be available:
Day Pass: Adults: $7.00, Children 3 to 15: $4.00, 2 and under: Free
Campers, Resort Guests, and Wilderness Hikers: Adults: $7.00, Children 3 to 15: $4.00, 2 and under: Free This one time fee is good for the duration of stay in the valley - based on permit or paid visit.
Three Day Pass: Adults: $14.00, Children 3 to 15: $8.00, 2 and under: Free Good for any 3 out of 5 days.
Season Pass: Adults: $35.00, Children 3 to 15: $20.00.
National Park, Golden Passports: The National Park Pass with the Golden Eagle Hologram and all Golden Passes including (Golden Eagle, Golden Age and Golden Access) will no longer be accepted for the Reds Meadow shuttle bus.
Mandatory shuttle bus service is necessary due to excessive vehicle use. Exceptions to the mandatory shuttle bus have been allowed during the last twenty years of operation. These vehicle exceptions will continue to be allowed and are: People with a disability placard, horse trailers or other livestock, campers, resort guests, vehicles carrying items too large to be stowed in the bus and administrative vehicles. For more information, please contact the Mammoth Lakes Visitor Center at (760) 924-5500 (press 0).
Earn A Reds Meadow Access Pass
Volunteer two days of maintenance work in the Reds Meadow area, and earn a season pass! Volunteers working 1 day will receive a voucher good for 1-days access into the Reds Meadow fee area. Volunteers may exchange two earned volunteer vouchers for a season pass. Work assignments may include clearing and brushing trails, repairing trail tread, or clearing lake and stream shorelines of fishing line and debris. Work assignments will be made based on physical ability. Volunteers must be at least 18 years of age. Workdays are tentatively scheduled for June 4, 5, 6 and 11th.. Volunteers must sign up by June 1st to work on June 4 and 5th; and by June 4th to work on June 6th and/or 11th. A minimum of 5 people must sign up to form a crew. Volunteer by calling the Mammoth Lakes Visitor Center at (760) 924-5500 (press 0), or by stopping in at the visitor center between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. daily. For more information, contact Pennie Custer at (760) 924-5516.
The shuttle stops at:
Backpackers: Wilderness permits do not include
permission to drive to the trailheads or to the valley; you must
use the shuttle or walk. Shuttles have racks which accommodate
backpacks.
This shuttle system is necessary to lessen impacts on the environment & the visitor. Please relax & enjoy the view on your ride.
Fewer than 100,000 years ago, basalt lava erupted two miles upstream from today's postpile. The lava flowed into the valley and pooled to a depth of 400 feet. The mass of molten lava then began to cool uniformly from top to bottom.
As it cooled and contracted, stresses built up in the basalt rock causing it to fracture. Each crack branched when it reached a length of about 10 inches, joining other cracks to form a pattern on the surface of the flow. Under ideal conditions, surface cracks deepened to create the vertical, hexagonal columns you see today.
Some 10,000 years ago a glacier flowed down the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River and overrode the Postpile formation. The moving ice quarried away one side of the postpile, exposing a sheer wall of columns 60 feet high. Evidence of the glacier - the polishing and scratches of glacial ice - remains atop the postpile.
Management: Management of Devils Postpile National Monument is overseen by the superintendent of Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks. For information year-round, you may write:
Devils Postpile National Monument
c/o Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks
47050 Generals Highway
Three Rivers, CA 93271
559-565-3341
Last Modified: May 15,2003
URL: www.nps.gov/depo/depomain.htm