White Mountain Peak is a great beginner 14er to tackle if you’re looking to start checking off those California 14ers from your to-do list! It’s the 3rd highest peak in California and the scenery on this hike is much different than that of the 14ers located within the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. However, even though the trail is straightfoward and the hike sounds “easy,” be aware of altitude sickness if you hike too fast!
Trip Overview:
Date: October 31, 2020
Time: about 7 hours RT
Miles: 15.2 miles
Trailhead Elevation: 11,683 ft
Peak Elevation: 14,252 ft
Elevation Gain: 2,569 ft
Permit: No permit required
Trailhead: White Mountain Trailhead
Parking: Available parking at the trailhead
Dogs Allowed: Dogs allowed, on a leash
Getting There:
The trailhead to start this hike begins the Barcroft Gate on White Mountain Road. From the Los Angeles area, take the 395 to Big Pine and turn east off the 168 after you get through Big Pine. Drive for 13 miles and turn left onto White Mountain Road. You will follow this for about another 26 miles until you reach the trailhead, blocked by a white gate.
Trip Details:
We started our hike at about 7 AM after sleeping in the car at the trailhead. There were a lot of cars that were there overnight, and it’s probably good to sleep there before your hike just to get a little more acclimated to the elevation.
Most of the hike is essentially a 4WD road that you follow up, until you get to the end where there are some dirt switchbacks.
More road that is the hiking trail, with White Mountain Peak in the distance. At about 2 miles in, you’ll reach the University of California Barcroft Facility. Further in on the hike there’s also the Barcroft Observatory.
Switchbacks. Even though in some areas it looks like you can walk anywhere or take a more straightforward path up, make sure you avoid those shortcuts and respect the ecosystem by taking the maintained trail up.
We got to the summit at about 10:30 AM and enjoyed our lunch!
Need to Know:
- No permit required for this hike
- No water is available along the trail so make sure to bring plenty of water!
- There are a lot of marmots in the area; we read warnings about marmots chewing through car cables so don’t leave food in your car!
When to Hike White Mountain Peak:
Anytime from June to October would be a good time to hike White Mountain Peak. We did it on Halloween and thought the weather was perfect. We spent the following week in Mammoth and the snow was starting to come in hard so we might’ve caught the tail end of good weather for hiking.
What to Pack to Hike White Mountain Peak:
- Hydration: We usually start with 2-3 liters of water, each, and pack a water filter and some iodine tablets. If you’re hiking where there’s snowpack, you can boil some snow to have drinkable water. Electrolyte packets are also very useful for hydration on the trail.
- Nutrition: We usually eat a bar or oatmeal and a piece of fruit before starting off on our backpacking trips. For this trip, we ate a bar in the morning and waited until we got to our campsite to eat lunch. For snacks, we bring bars, jerky, or trail mix. For dinners, we either eat dehydrated foods or even leftovers from a meal we ate on the road trip out to the hike (cold pizza makes a great dinner!).
- Navigation: For hikes with more difficult trails to follow, you may want to invest in a GPS tracker. For simpler hikes, we use the GPS system on our phones and a tracker such as Gaia GPS or AllTrails.
- Headlamp: We use Black Diamond, and I usually also pack our inflatable solar latern by MPOWERD and attach it to the outside of my pack.
- Sun protection: Sunscreen, sunglasses, and sun-protective clothes – always a must!
- First aid: Our first aid kit consists of band-aids, gauze, medical tape, Compede Bandages (love this more than Moleskin for blisters), antibiotic ointment, alcohol wipes, ibuprofen, tweezers, pocket knife.
The 10 Essentials
Check out our list of the 10 essentials here!
Leave No Trace
Always remember to practice the principals of Leave No Trace! These 7 principals include:
- Plan Ahead & Prepare
- Travel & Camp on Durable Surfaces
- Dispose of Waste Properly
- Leave What You Find
- Minimize Campfire Impacts
- Respect Wildlife
- Be Considerate of Others
Check out the Leave No Trace program for more information.
