Mt Tom Bishop

Local Events

The Creekside Inn is ideally located on Main Street for a stroll through Bishop Park, browsing local  shops, dining at favorite restaurants, it is a perfect base camp to  explore Bishop and our BIG Backyard.  All photography of local attractions provided by Beverly Schroeder. View more of Beverly's stunning photography at the Creekside Inn. 

Upcoming Events

June

 Bishop Community Band Concerts at Bishop City Park

July

 Paiute Palace Casino Fireworks

Bishop Airport Fireworks

Independence Parade

August

Eastern Sierra Tri County Fair

Labor Day Weekend Arts & Crafts Show

 

Where to visit in Bishop, CA

Experience, Explore & Adventure

Bishop & Beyond

Bishop is known as the Small Town with A BIG Backyard!  One look around and you'll see why.  Experience the beauty and explore the vast wilderness in our backyard. Your adventure awaits.

Ancient Bristlecone Pines

High in the White Mountains, yet only 38 miles from Bishop, the oldest living tree, over 5,000 years old looks down upon the town of Bishop. Still growing very, very slowly these healthy forests dominate the cold, dry windswept summits between 9,000 and 11,000 feet (2,750 - 3,350m) of the White Mountain range soaring above Bishop. They withstand gale force winds, temperatures that plummet to well below freezing in winter and a limited supply of water annually.  yet they have lived here for eons - imagine if they could speak, the stories they would tell us.  

 

Bishop, CA attractions
What to do in Bishop, CA?

Bishop Creek Canyon

North Lake, Sabrina Lake, South Lake

Of all the magnificent canyons in the mighty Sierra Nevada mountain range, Bishop Creek Canyon is the piece de resistance of Bishop's backyard. Each season holds a promise of something adventurous; Spring is rejuvenating, Summer is rapturous. The air is cool and wildflowers bloom in green marshy meadows. Streams & lakes are regularly stocked with fish and miles of trails offer easy access to swift waters and calm lakes. Autumn is the most gloriously colorful season of the year, beginning with scattered touches of yellow, bright orange and deep crimson spreading across the mountainside drawing golden borders around sparkling lakes. Winter washes the color away and settles the soul, with a solace and meditation in it's vision of snow, earth and sky. 

Trailheads for access into the vast wilderness of the high Sierra and well known paths of the Pacific Crest Trail & John Muir trails. Bishop Creek Canyon is both a destination and a starting point. Driving distance from Creekside Inn is 18 -22 miles. 

Death Valley

Death Valley National Park

Death Valley is an ancient and massive landscape-starkly beautiful and entirely mesmerizing. The incomparable extremes of low & high, big & small, hot & cold can only be fully appreciated during a visit to this spectacular National Park. 

Heat is almost visible as it hovers over the magnificent, windswept dunes and floats across a vast, empty stretch of sand. It is here at Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America at 282 (86m) below sea level.  In summer the landscape appears almost lifeless, yet life thrives from the spring water that seeps to the surface, home to tiny plants, animals, aquatic insects and the Badwater snail. 

Eons of wind and water have swept relentlessly down the canyons sculpting the rock, exposing layers of sediment resulting in a splendid show of color and textures. Like the great galleries of the world, the walls, floors and showcases of this valley exhibit the permanent collection of nature's craft and seasonal changes. Driving distance from the Creekside Inn is 110 miles. 

sun reflecting off a rock formation
Mountains in Bishop, CA

Mono Lake

Surreal & Ethereal

Mono Lake is a huge inland sea with tall, crusty rock spires that rise out of the water. These tufa towers are actually calcium carbonate deposits which form under the lakes surface as freshwater springs bubble up into the excessively salty lake. Part of a larger lake that covered much of Nevada & Utah and thought to be over 1 million years old, one of the oldest lakes in North America. A species of brine shrimp found nowhere else in the world are found in Mono Lake, however fish do not survive in this water with twice the salinity of the world's oceans. Barren landscape, an immense body of blue water and strangely mystical tufa towers create an other worldly experience. Hiking, photography, bird watching and boating are favorite activities at Mono Lake. Located 66 miles from Bishop. 

Bodie

State Historic Park

Clusters of weather beaten old houses lean in toward each other like neighbors reminiscing about the past.  As many as 10,000 people once lived here on this harsh, cold, windswept plain. Lured by the promise of gold, the town boomed in the 1880's but by the early 1900's it was declared a ghost town. Behind the windows and inside the buildings; the general store, a school room, old homes, the hotel and salon; furniture, books and everyday supplies lie where residents left them. Walk the dusty streets, peer inside the buildings and listen to the long forgotten voices of the pioneers who lived here.  Located 96 miles from Bishop.

Tourist attractions of Bishop, CA
Hiking in Bishop, CA

Yosemite National Park

Vast Wilderness

Not just a great valley, but a shrine to human foresight, the strength of granite, the power of glaciers, the persistence of life, and the tranquility of the High Sierra.

First protected in 1864, Yosemite National Park is best known for its waterfalls, but within its nearly 1,200 square miles, you can find deep valleys, grand meadows, ancient giant sequoias, a vast wilderness area, and much more.

1,200 square miles of National Park with deep valleys, grand meadows, ancient sequoias and vast wilderness. 68 miles from Bishop to the South Entrance.

Mobis Arch

Alabama Hills

The huge, rounded rocks and curved arches of the Alabama Hills are as old as the starkly chiseled peaks of the nearby Sierra Nevada, but they were carved by eons of water while still underground. As the soil around them eroded, their smooth, sculpted surfaces continued to be polished by the elements.  The Mobius Arch, the largest and most picturesquely situated of the many natural arches here creates a window that perfectly frames Mt. Whitney (tallest peak in the contiguous USA) in the distance. These beautiful, gently curved rock formations bordered by a vast open plain rise majestically to the snow capped mountains beyond. This is a favorite filming location for Hollywood movies & TV shows where evocative scenes of an old west landscape are still evident - in real time. 

 

Travel to Bishop, CA
Attractions in Bishop, CA

Manzanar

National Historic Site

In 1942 the United States government ordered more than 110,000 men, women and children to leave their homes and detained them in remote, military style camps. Manzanar is one of ten camps where Japanese American citizens were incarcerated during World War 11. 

Laws Museum

Historic Site

Life is hard in the high deserts of the American west, especially 150 or more years ago. The plains are vast and the mountains huge, towns are few and far between. The weather is extreme and resources are limited, but the spirits of the pioneers were bigger and bolder than anything that stood in their way.

The railroad has long been the symbol of expansion into the American West and it's depots were the hub of commerce and community life. In California the railroad represented the speed and efficiency for the gold mining rush in the late 1800's. Laws Station, 6 miles (9.6km) from Bishop was built in 1883 to serve as the largest depot along the railway line known as the Slim Princess. 

Today it is a museum that marks the place where life was filled with dreams and determination. 50 authentic structures house objects of antiquity and relics of a forgotten era, with original tools used by townspeople of the period; blacksmiths, dentists, newspaper publishers, gold miners, ranchers and homemakers. 

The Laws Museum and Historical Site safeguards the memories and experiences of a not so long ago era of railway magnates, miners, farmers, fortune seekers, high Sierra adventurers and travelers who rode the Slim Princess. 

Tour Bishop, CA