Established Camping
Old Shady Rest Campground
About
National Forest
Inyo National Forest
Overview
Old Shady Rest Campground is a large facility convenient to numerous outdoor activities and attractions in the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains, and within walking distance of the full-service community of Mammoth Lakes. The campground is popular for hiking, mountain biking, sightseeing and hitting the town for shopping and dining. The facility best accommodates tents and small to medium-sized RVs.
Recreation
The Mammoth Lakes area has much to keep campers busy. The majestic scenery and challenging trails are an obvious draw for hikers, mountain bikers and off-road vehicle enthusiasts. Skiing is a major winter pastime in this area. The eastern Sierras are known for their exceptional trout fishing, and several creeks and lakes are within a short drive from the campground. Families enjoy learning more at the visitor center down the street, or taking a paved walking and biking trail to two nearby campgrounds, a town park with a playing field and skate park, or Mammoth Lakes.
Facilities
The campground is organized into one large loop, adjacent to New Shady Rest and Pine Glen Campgrounds and a short walk to Mammoth Lakes. Several amenities are provided, including restrooms with flush toilets, campfire rings and picnic tables, and many more are within a few miles. Showers are not located in the campground but are nearby. Bear-proof lockers are available for food storage, and firewood can be purchased on-site.
Natural Features
The campsites are located under the shady canopy of a mature Jeffery pine forest at an elevation of 7,800 feet. Many species of wildlife call the mountains home, such as black bear, mountain lions, mule deer, pine marten, pika and numerous fish and birds.
Nearby Attractions
For campers interested in local events, the Mammoth Jazz Jubilee is hosted in Mammoth in mid-July. Several other events and amenities are available in town. Many great day trips for sightseers are available in the area, such as Yosemite National Park, Mono Basin and Devils Postpile National Monument.
Charges & Cancellations
Once your reservation start date has begun, neither the Recreation.gov Contact Center nor the campground manager will be able to modify your reservation.
Access
- Drive-InPark next to your site
Stay Connected
- WiFiAvailable
- VerizonFair
- AT&TAvailable
- T-MobilePoor
Site Types
- Tent Sites
- RV Sites
- Standard (Tent/RV)
- Group
Features
For Campers
- Trash
- Picnic Table
- Firewood Available
- Phone Service
- Drinking Water
- Toilets
- Alcohol
- Pets
- Fires
For Vehicles
- Sanitary Dump
- Big Rig Friendly
Scoutdisorganized due to firing of camp host
They force you to work overtime but they WILL NOT PAY YOU OT THEY WILL JUST SAY YOU WEREN'T MOVING FAST ENOUGH. But then if you move faster they just make up other things. 24 hours a day of something happened in your assigned park they blame you. Hey the company will lie to you and say you aren't on call 24 7. And hey don't expect help from the"supervisor' she tell you"it's too late" at 8pm for her to help even though she's 200' away. All of the toilets flood the bathroom even though they have been told 1000 times. And of course the guests blame the host. But take a look next door at new shady rest and the bathrooms look like they haven't been cleaned in YEARS. Hard to keep up with 6 flooding bathrooms and do your job. The only reason they get business is close to town and yes you will hear traffic all night. Then they force you to collect an 8 dollar fee for extra vehicles which every single camper gets mad about and blames the host. Fix your system and stop making the host the middle man for your 8 dollar fee. AND THAT'S THE JUST START. Videos and audio recordings of management lying and berating employees coming soon.
ScoutFirst night great so far
Have been here less than 24 hours. Large sites well separated from each other. Cement road up to campsite. Only downside is it is very close to Mammoth Lake township, so can hear traffic during the daytime. At night it is completely silent, no city lights visible. Overall great site, reminds me of Minocqua, WI where I grew up camping.
GuideGateway to the eastern sierras
The location was amazing!!! I could walk to a few shops if I wanted. It was so close to some really amazing hikes! It was the best of both worlds being outdoors and having modern luxuries close by.
The site itself was pretty great. Level, kind of dusty, plenty of space between campsites, bear box that was much needed.
I did have a bear on my site, but thankfully he moved on to the site across the way that had left out food (shame on them!)
The campground itself did not have showers which was a huge bummed. Camp host didn’t have a list of showers close by but a fellow camper did. Overall, I felt pretty meh about the campground.
Location
Old Shady Rest Campground is located in California
Directions
Old Shady Rest is near Mammoth Lakes, California, 300 miles north of Los Angeles and 165 miles south of Reno, Nevada. Take U.S. Highway 395 to State Route 203. Proceed west on 203 for 2.8 miles to Old Sawmill Road. Take a right, go 0.5 mile. The campground entrance is on the left.
Coordinates
37.650589 N
118.961393 W