As we travel we learn there are few areas that just get flagged in the memory banks. This 2019 trip was full of firsts for me and many for Steve. And our final overnighter was another one. One that we’ll definitely return to, spend a few days exploring and experience it in different seasons. Alabama Hill recreation area is puts you square in the land of giants…boulders that is.

Alabama Hills Recreation Area

Funny how you can pass an area numerous times through the years and never know what lies just a couple miles beyond the highway. Alabama Hills is just that type of area. If you’re a Mt. Whitney fan or a regular Bishop and Lone Pine area camper, you may be familiar with it; however for us who have only stuck to HWY 395, we’d never know it was there.

BLM.Gov area map and recreation brochure is a great starting point if you’re looking to spend a day or two in this area. The last page you can see where BLM starts and once you’re out there in the vast area, it’s easy to just start site hunting.

Sleeping quarters amoung these giants. Can you see Steve?
  • GPS: 36.5958, -118.1092
  • Easy to locate: Yes. These coordinates drop you at the intersection of Whitney Portal road and Movie Road. Head north on Movie Road.
  • Public Land: BLM and there’s maps on the BLM website that made it easy to identify where to head
  • Cell: signal was testy. We could get a couple bars just walking around and out of a boulder shadow. We just never consider having usable data a priority unless we’re staying more than a few days
  • Crowded: not at all; we ventured a short distance once the paved road ended before turning right and following a track around to our private set of boulders
  • Clean: Yes!
  • Would we stay here again: Absolutely

The night time lighting was interesting to play with just using my pixel phone. The perspective of how small we felt is clear in the 1st picture above. And did you notice Steve? My big guy is super tiny in this world!