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Camping And Off Roading In Bishop CA Info please!

W.O.T

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A friend of mine and I have decided to take a trip up to Bishop later this month to camp at Browns Millpond Campground. We both ride dirt bikes and I had some questions if anyone has been there and can help me.

My friend has a street legal KTM dirt bike and I have a 2014 YZ450f dirt bike. From what I have read red sticker is ok to off road year around up there. I'm trying to find out if I will need a spark arrestor on my 450. I know its needed in most forest areas and might be a silly question. But is it enforced up there?

My friend has been there and said he's never even seen a park ranger or anything. I just would hate to get there and find out I cant ride my bike. I just bought a brand new bike and really didn't want to spend the coin on an exhaust system with a spark arrestor right now if I don't need to. Also will I be able to ride most of the trails up there or are they mainly for street legal vehicles?

Thanks Guys heres a pic of the new ride. Haven't ridden it yet. Makes a nice addition to the living room!

yz450.jpg
 

Meaney77

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Question- I go to Mammoth every year to ride or take my buggy. If your driving that far why not just camp in Mammoth?

The riding up in the Sierra Nevada is awesome. You should be fine on your bike, you can cover tons of area if you stay on the dirt roads, there is also tons of fire roads between Mammoth and June.

As far as the sparky- I have them on all of my stuff but have never seen the rangers check for them. Probably not a bad idea to pick one of the inserts for your stock exhaust up and run it.

It's a great time up there hopefully you are going for awhile, we usually go for 8 days and peel off about 150-200 miles a day.

Here is a thread I started from last year.

http://www.riverdavesplace.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101679
 

W.O.T

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Thanks for the reply! Beautiful pics in your thread. Seeing that thread really got me pumped up for this trip. I had no idea really what to expect up there. You guys have some awesome VDubs.

I've never been up in that area before, but I will ask my friend about going to Mammoth instead. If I don't pull the trigger on a new exhaust, I will snag one of the spark arrested end caps at least to bring along.

Thanks again very helpful

It looks like your trip was around the same time of year as I will be going.
 

rivermobster

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I think you should check out Kennedy Meadows. Lots of single track trails through the pine trees. It's beautiful up there and it's called the land that time forgot.

My bro in law just got back. Weather is perfect up there right now.

Couple of pics from his trip. They went all the way back to Monanche.

uploadfromtaptalk1409725423789.jpg uploadfromtaptalk1409725441972.jpg
 

W.O.T

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Looks beautiful. Like I said I had no idea what to expect when my friend brought the idea up. I am very excited now. I am looking up these different places and will have a better knowledge of the area before we go. I ride with a go pro and will be sure to take tons of pictures and share them.
 

VoodooMedMan

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Is this the Browns camp that is East of the 395 in the Owens River? If so a lot of the land right there is owned Los Angeles. Not sure if that helps. Don't think you'll see LAPD running around but definitely MWD trucks. Not like they have LEO authority though. I'd think the only thing that would be enforced by other agencies typically would be violations of fish and game code.
 

Nordie

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I ran one of these on my stock YZ exhaust...it was required for racing motorcycle races, and the stock exhaust is perfectly suitable for that bike anyway

uploadfromtaptalk1409755263344.jpg
uploadfromtaptalk1409755275472.jpg
 

Meaney77

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We typically plan our trips around late August early September time. In years past we booked them later to avoid snow on the trails. You will be amazed at the amount of riding up there, you can get lost in all of it. It?s awesome up there, because you rarely run into anyone else on the trails and the terrain and scenery is amazing.

Some great riding right outside of Mammoth, we always camp at New Shady rest/Pine Glenn- these are bigger group spots that can accommodate our trailers. You can reserve online though www.reserveamerica.com or if you are tent camping you can book a spot at New Shady rest (also online) or Glass Creek- Further north a bit but all first come first serve. We have ridden as far north to Bridgeport as far east around Mono Lake/ Benton Area and also south down to Bishop area. We all have collapsible poles for our back packs so you can go fish some of the remote lakes and streams.

If you camp in the New Shady/ Pine Glen area its cool because you can still go into town to get gas, groceries, food, etc. Also you get into the trail system fairly easily without much risk of getting busted by the cops. The community up there appreciates the riding/off road community so they dont really hassle you. This time of year there are usually a lot of dual sport bikes rolling through town.

I would recommend packing a hand held GPS if you can, like I said its easy to get turned around out there. Also its extremely dusty out there pack extra goggles, tear offs etc. Might also consider finding a way to pack extra fuel if you can.

A couple of cool spots to go ride to and have lunch and cocktails:

June Lake-The Tiger Bar
Tioga Pass- Tioga Pass Mobil Gas Station- Great food and Mango Margaritas
Convict Lake- Convict Lake Cafe
Browns Owens River Campground- General Store has burgers and beer. This is the upper owns closer to Mammoth.
Toms Place Crowley Lake Area- good food and cocktails

Enjoy it, take pictures and report back. We didnt make a trip to Mammoth this year and I am bummed. This is the first time in like 8 years that we didnt go, hoping to get up there next year.
 

W.O.T

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I ran one of these on my stock YZ exhaust...it was required for racing motorcycle races, and the stock exhaust is perfectly suitable for that bike anyway

View attachment 363800
View attachment 363801

Ok thanks! I rode it for the first time yesterday. Definitely need to try some different EFI maps but from what I have read the stock exhaust is pretty good. I'm going to pick up one of those spark arrestor tips thank you.
 

W.O.T

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We typically plan our trips around late August early September time. In years past we booked them later to avoid snow on the trails. You will be amazed at the amount of riding up there, you can get lost in all of it. It?s awesome up there, because you rarely run into anyone else on the trails and the terrain and scenery is amazing.

Some great riding right outside of Mammoth, we always camp at New Shady rest/Pine Glenn- these are bigger group spots that can accommodate our trailers. You can reserve online though www.reserveamerica.com or if you are tent camping you can book a spot at New Shady rest (also online) or Glass Creek- Further north a bit but all first come first serve. We have ridden as far north to Bridgeport as far east around Mono Lake/ Benton Area and also south down to Bishop area. We all have collapsible poles for our back packs so you can go fish some of the remote lakes and streams.

If you camp in the New Shady/ Pine Glen area its cool because you can still go into town to get gas, groceries, food, etc. Also you get into the trail system fairly easily without much risk of getting busted by the cops. The community up there appreciates the riding/off road community so they dont really hassle you. This time of year there are usually a lot of dual sport bikes rolling through town.

I would recommend packing a hand held GPS if you can, like I said its easy to get turned around out there. Also its extremely dusty out there pack extra goggles, tear offs etc. Might also consider finding a way to pack extra fuel if you can.

A couple of cool spots to go ride to and have lunch and cocktails:

June Lake-The Tiger Bar
Tioga Pass- Tioga Pass Mobil Gas Station- Great food and Mango Margaritas
Convict Lake- Convict Lake Cafe
Browns Owens River Campground- General Store has burgers and beer. This is the upper owns closer to Mammoth.
Toms Place Crowley Lake Area- good food and cocktails

Enjoy it, take pictures and report back. We didnt make a trip to Mammoth this year and I am bummed. This is the first time in like 8 years that we didnt go, hoping to get up there next year.


Thanks very much for all of the great info. I will look for a handheld GPS to use up there.
 

W.O.T

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Had a great trip. After we went to Mammoth I wondered why the heck we didn't stay there like you guys said. Next time.....We Rode About 80 miles a day. Ill tell you, I have a new found appreciation for bikes with desert tanks and a kickstand.
I carried gas in a backpack to make the long trips. Was great but man I was beat. Turned out to be on of the best times of my life. My father passed away a few years ago and I Google searched one of his best riding friends after losing contact. We got back in contact and made this trip happen.
photo (2).jpg 7.jpg 11.jpg 25.jpg 29.jpg 43.jpg 46.jpg 19.jpg
 

Kylemenz1

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The bishop dual sport ride is this weekend. That's a good way to find trails in the area.
 

t&y

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Beautiful are up there. Nice pics.
 

rivermobster

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Had a great trip. After we went to Mammoth I wondered why the heck we didn't stay there like you guys said. Next time.....We Rode About 80 miles a day. Ill tell you, I have a new found appreciation for bikes with desert tanks and a kickstand.
I carried gas in a backpack to make the long trips. Was great but man I was beat. Turned out to be on of the best times of my life. My father passed away a few years ago and I Google searched one of his best riding friends after losing contact. We got back in contact and made this trip happen.
View attachment 370725 View attachment 370718 View attachment 370719 View attachment 370720 View attachment 370721 View attachment 370722 View attachment 370723 View attachment 370724


What a great story. Good times. Great trip. :thumbup::thumbup:
 

BHC Vic

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Bishop is a lot of fun. My buddies took me to some sick hit springs wish I remembered where they were
 

W.O.T

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Bishop is a lot of fun. My buddies took me to some sick hit springs wish I remembered where they were

I saw a few where people were gathered at the foot of the mountains but never stopped. Another thing to do next time lol
 
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