Alt Text

Map of Devils Postpile National Monument in California. A tall, narrow rectangle encloses the monument in the lower left quadrant of the map. A shuttle route represented in red and hiking trails create pathways across the Inyo National Forest (Ansel Adams Wilderness) in which the monument is located.

Extended Description

Rainbow Falls and the Rainbow Falls Viewpoint are near the bottom of the rectangle outlining the Devils Postpile National Monument, and the Buttresses are up along the left edge. Other sites are identified at the top left corner, which is around stop 6 on the shuttle bus. More on that to come.

A black road enters the map from near the top right corner and passes Mammoth Mountain Ski Area Main Lodge Gondola Building. Red text there states, “Buy tickets and board Shuttle Bus here. Parking for Mandatory Shuttle Bus.” Continuing west, the black road passes through a Winter Road Closure and ends at a ranger station labeled Minaret Vista Station (USFS and NPS). A short spur leads to Minaret Summit, which is at 9,175 feet (2,796 meters).

After Minaret Summit the road turns red and is labeled “Shuttle bus route/Fee road.” It heads north and slightly west until it almost touches the top edge of the map, passing a hiking trail to the west. The first of the ten numbered shuttle stops is there. The numbers descend as the shuttle route travels south.

Stop 1 is close to the short, looped Wildflower Trail, a pack station and corral, and Agnew Meadows, which has a campground, group campground, horse campground, and trailheads for the Pacific Crest Trail and River Trail;

Stop 2 is close to Starkweather Lake and a hiking trail that connects east to Minaret Vista Station;

Stop 3 is near Upper Soda Springs, which has a campground;

Stop 4 is near Pumice Flat, which has a campground, a telephone, and Pumice Flat Group Campground, all around Pumice Flat;

Stop 5 is close to Minaret Falls, which has a campground;

Stop 6 is in Devils Postpile National Monument, at the end of a spur off the main road that ends near an NPS Campground, the King Creek Trail, Soda Springs, Ranger Station with a telephone, and Devil’s Postpile;

Stop 7 is close to Sotcher Lake;

Stop 8 is near Reds Meadow, which has a campground;

Stop 9 is close to Rainbow Falls Trailhead; and

Stop 10 ends with a small loop at Reds Meadow Resort, which has food service, a pack station, telephone, and store.

The Pacific Crest Trail and John Muir Trail run through and along the shuttle bus route, as well as the smaller King Creek Trail and Fish Creek Trail, which enter from the southwest of the map.

Legend

In the top right corner of the map, the legend begins with a list titled One-way trail distances (in miles). Distances from the Ranger Station to the following sites are listed in this order:

Devils Postpile is 0.4,

Rainbow Falls is 2.5,

Minaret Falls is 1.5,

Reds Meadow Campground is 1.2, and

Rainbow Falls—then to Shuttle Bus Stop at Rainbow Falls Trailhead is 3.8.

Rainbow Falls Trailhead to Rainbow Falls is 1.3 miles.

Round-trip trail distances (in miles) are listed as the final section:

Ranger Station-Devils Postpile is 0.8,

Ranger Station-Rainbow Falls is 5.0, and

Rainbow Falls Trailhead to Rainbow Falls is 2.6.

A column of symbols to the right of the distance begins with a red dot for Shuttle bus stop. Symbols below represent Ranger station, Telephone, Pack station, Food service, Campground, and Store.

A legend below the list of symbols reads as follows:

Red line for Shuttle Bus Route/Fee Road,

White line encased in black for Unpaved Road,

Green dashed line for John Muir and Pacific Crest Trails,

Black dotted line for Other hiking trails,

Darker green for National Park Service property, and

Light green for US Forest Service property.

A scale in the lower left corner of the map shows distances of 0.5 kilometers and 0.5 miles.