Volcanic Tablelands

It’s a few miles down a bumpy dirt road on this BLM managed land, but so worth it for a spectacular view over Bishop. Big wide expansive views will always win our hearts, and this is one we will yearn to return to.

We heard about this BLM area through a friend. Although there are quite a few nice looking camping spots, only a couple can accommodate a big rig. We were lucky to find one of those, with a 360 degree view of mountains.

The drive is uphill on a dirt road, parts of it washboard, and a bit bumpy but doable. Our site was rocky and on a slight incline but actually had a level spot. It was quite remote and beautiful.

Our site itself was clean, but upon further inspection, I found lots of broken glass on the land adjacent to the fire pit. It seems people have thrown bottles over as they sat around the campfire. Although I can't say I picked up anywhere near all the glass around, I picked up many of the larger pieces that were easier to get out of the sand. I think it can make a big difference if everyone that stays there picks up some of the glass.

It's a good place to walk doggies, as it's mostly sandy with scrubby plants. Cars on the road behind us were few and far between.

The location is minutes to the cute town of Bishop, which has lots of restaurants, a large grocery store and other amenities.

This area gets some high winds during spring, and this spot is really exposed, so we wound up leaving due to winds. There is no room to turn around, so we had to back out, but it was a very short distance.

We hope to return during a less windy time.

We spied the perfect spot on a Tuesday as we explored Volcanic Tablelands last, after having looked at every other national forest or BLM spot in the immediate vicinity of Bishop.

Pleasant Valley Pit was nothing special, literally a stoney pit with not small but not spacious sites. Another public campground, the name escapes me but it was slightly further west, was all broken roads and a busted dump station and more than twenty minutes from town. Brown's Millpond, a private park, was expensive for the relative lack of beauty or amenities. So we drove into these tablelands.

Stark and barren, hardly even much in the way of sage, they are still striking. The White Mountains to the east and Sierras to the west were still covered in snow even as we approached Memorial Day. But when the wind wasn't blowing or the rain falling--a rarity in this area that came plentiful during our stay--it was downright hot and beautifully sunbaking.

Bishop had a festival, Mule Days, which superseded the Memorial Day weekend all together. We could drive to town and enjoy all of the great restaurants within a few bumpy minutes. There is so very much to explore in this area, Buttermilk Rocks (similar but slightly different to the Alabama Hills in Lone Pine), Lake Sabrina, South Lake. The price is ever so right and the convenience makes it all the more worthwhile.

For the interested, even my four bars of AT&T LTE didn't work very well, and Verizon was all 1x...

I stayed here initially hoping for some good 4G and a good post office for general delivery. While fulfilling those, it proved to be a nice place to stay for a work week or so.

The road in was in pretty good condition, and the whole spur road was as well. There is a good turn around at the very end, good both for camping and just turning around for larger rigs, if you make the rest of the drive there. I opted to stay in one of the many smaller spots along the road, just because that makes the most sense for me.

There was some occasional other people driving through, but it was mostly really quiet. The spot I stayed in was very clean, and even pretty level.

There's great views of the Sierras and the White Mountains opposite. The fact that you're camping on a huge Volcanic formation is pretty cool. There's bouldering and some native American pictographs nearby, if you look for it.

I got decent Verizon 4G--even better with a booster. TMobile Edge showed up with the booster, but I wouldn't rely on it for an important business call as it went in and out regularly.

I picked up my mail general delivery to the post office in Bishop, and it worked great. There's a good Vons for grocery shopping in town and a ranger station as well.

It does got toasty as the weather is heating up and there's not much for shade at all, but that balances with wonderful sunshine for solar panels. The nearby Creek does feed mosquitoes, and I got eaten pretty bad one night, not thinking to protect myself from them at all.

All that, it is most definitely on my list of places to stop at again in the future, if I'm traveling through. It's a great spot!

We spent a night here on the way from Lone Pine to Mammoth. It's a beautiful spot with views overlooking Bishop. We were relatively close to the road so we noticed there was a fair amount of traffic. Not a bad place if you want to be near Bishop!

Formed over 700,000 years ago by the Long Valley caldera, the Volcanic Tablelands lies just north of Bishop, CA. A rock climbing paradise, this vast volcanic landscape is a dazzling high desert jewel showcasing the imposing Eastern Sierra Mountain Range, a grandiose landscape reflecting a history of extremes. For a select few, it is also a magical collection of perfectly chiseled Paiute-Shoshone Indian petroglyphs...Native American rock art.

We camped here in mid April and the Tablelands were perfect...thus our 5-star rating. Temperatures were mild during the day and in the 50's at night. Although we missed the high winds, it did make multiple appearances in the afternoon, but it was not strong enough to force us to retrieve our awnings. We have been here in the summer and the heat and dust made sure we would not return during that season.

Once you enter the Tablelands, plan on a mile or more riding a bumpy dirt road, some washboard, but very manageable for all big rigs or motorhomes with low clearance. Just take your time and enjoy the view. Although you will come across many nice camping sites within this BLM land, we noticed only a few that would accommodate a big rig...but they are there. We managed to snag this awesome site just a short walk from a valley rock facing that offered spectacular views of the White Mountains to the east, the majestic Sierras to the west and the dotted night lights of Bishop to the south.

Most of the sites are parallel to the road running through the Tableland plateau, with a turnout being your campsite. Even though the site are rocky, not always level and sometimes with patches of broken glass, the sites are for the most part pretty clean. Many of them already have fire pits rings built. There is plenty of hiking here and running room for your pets...just keep in mind this is a high desert with a lot of cacti. The Owens River runs through the valley, so if you are a fisherman, you will have many places to cast a line. You are also close to Bishop for shopping, dining, supplies and if needed, dumping of your holding tanks.

As you hike through the Tablelands, search out the valley walls to find Native American petroglyphs. There are many and some are quite elaborate. Hopefully, if you venture to seek them out, you will feel the same amazement as we did and exercise leave no trace principles at any petroglyphs you find, in order that they can continue to be protected and preserved for future generations.

I'm writing this review from here because we got the last spot in the turnaround so we left plenty of room for anyone who makes it down this far. It's a beautiful area in May because snow is still on the mountains although it is getting warmer. Anxious to visit Bishop tomorrow. But tonight it is margarita time listening to Kenny G. Yeah, my life is tough.

There are big rocks lining both sides of the road so be extra careful.

Lots of room to spread out, but not great for bigger rigs.
We stayed here 14 Days to see Mule Day’s in late May. Wow! What a great time.
There’s great cell service out here, it’s close to town, and who doesn’t love a small town.

Our family loved staying here. It's primitive, but there are privys, and garbage disposal. We chose a pay site, just because it was so perfect, river right off site, but in the future, there are tons of free options. BLM and USFS in Bishop provided maps and advice.
Hiking there Volcanic table lands and Happy and Sad Canyon, seeing the Paiute Shoshone petroglyphs was a profound experience. Only saw a pair of climbers and a rattlesnake hiking up Happy and Sad Canyon, and one other hiker in four hours of glyph hunting.
Bishop is close for amenities, Keough Hotsprings is a must.We explored from our site the surrounding Eastern Sierra sights. Mammoth Mountain is cool, Mono Lake is unusual and worth the stop on the highway, Bodie ghost town was closed when we went through, super disappointed, Travertine hot springs was great hiking and gorgeous, but the springs themselves were crowded, luke warm, and people had their dogs loose and roaming...Ancient Bristlecone Forest was closed due to snow also. The campsite can get kinda trafficy, but it wasn't bothersome. Breathtaking scenery, shooting stars at night, the most lovely experience.

This review could just as well serve as the review for Boondocking in Bishop.

We started off by attempting to camp off of Buttermilk Road, but fled (read our review here on Campendium). The City of Los Angeles owns the land up and down Owens Valley (water rights). Due to this, you’ll see a lot of “closed to camping” signs. However, camping can be found after these signs on both Buttermilk, and Casa Diablo Rd.

We ended up at the Volcanic Tablelands, which is the same area as the other Campendium locations of Casa Diablo Cliff Side, and Casa Diablo Rd. Our specific location ( 37.430667, -118.423207) is not here on Campendium. There are a total of about 9 useable locations here that can fit all but the largest 5th wheels. With the road as bad as it is, we still saw an, oddly enough, tour bus roll right by us with a group of students of some sort. One of the oddest things we’ve ever seen in our boondocking adventures.

This is land is managed by the BLM, and is free. I’m not sure where the past reviewer paid to camp, but it wasn’t here at the Volcanic Tablelands. Our location is off of Casa Diablo Rd, not Chalk Bluff Rd. Chalk Bluff Rd is a long washboard road that leads down to small parking lots for the Happy and Sad Boulders for climbing, and is the turn to the left before heading straight into the Volcanic Tablelands.

The road heading up into the Volcanic Tablelands (Casa Diablo Rd) is not in great shape, but doable. Our location was right off the road, with 360 degree views of the Sierras and White Mountains.

37.430667, -118.423207

This location is before the other Compendium listing for Casa Diablo Rd, and after Casa Diablo Cliffside.

It’s under 15 minutes into Bishop where amenities are plentiful. Water and dump at the Arco (Shell), also listed here on Campendium. Internet came in at 50 mbps on AT&T (Verizon continues to trail behind in performance everywhere we’ve been). The road is pretty busy, mainly climbers accessing the Sad Boulders from the small spur leading from Casa Diablo Rd.

Now the not so great parts. The wind here was the strongest we’ve ever been in. Gusts to 70mph had us retracing our slides for the first time ever (we boondock 100% exclusively). We also had a problem with Kangaroo Rats for the first few days. The ultrasonic unit wasn’t repelling them, and we weren’t able to trap them safely, but some peanut butter in those old fashioned mouse traps finally worked. 5 in one night. After that, all was quiet.

One thing that’s very important to note, was that the BLM patrols this daily. So much to the point that it made us uncomfortable, especially when she took pictures of us on the 13th day!! She was actually taking attendance. I chatted with her afterwards, and she confirmed that they do enforce, very strictly, the maximum 14 day limit. She explained that the 14 day limit was per BLM ranger district, per year, which means, and she very clearly stated, that if you stayed here, you could not stay in Alabama Hills over 60 miles away until a full year later.

After my own research, turns out this is indeed true: https://www.blm.gov/office/bishop-field-office

“Dispersed camping is limited to 14 days per year within the Bishop Field Office boundaries.”

How they enforce this is anyones guess, but by taking a picture, it seems plausible.