The Lone Pine Creek, just north of Lot #8 is especially picturesque.

From the small parking area just off Whitney Portal Road, you hear the rushing creek.  You amble along several granite boulders and hundred-year sage bushes to the creek.  It is a different world.

To the right—a house-sized boulder. Before you--the creek tumbling over large, glistening red rocks. Overhead--a canopy of cottonwoods, water birches and willows. Through the branches—the Alabama Hills.

Enjoy lunch along the creek bank—or out on the “island,” a small, fern-covered patch.  Or sit silently and just be—taking in the stream, the trees, the red boulders, the fern-lined banks. 

This pocket area, immediately northwest of The Portal Preserve, is between Whitney Portal Road and the Creek. It is accessed by car or foot.