Heart Lake Hike in Mammoth Lakes, California 2024 Guide
The hike to Heart Lake is a relatively easy, 2.5 mile out-and-back hike that leads to an alpine lake that’s, well, shaped like a heart. Additionally, the trail passes by an old mining camp site – the Mammoth Consolidated Mine – that you can check out. In this guide, I’ll show you what to expect on your hike to Heart Lake in Mammoth Lakes, California – let’s begin.
Heart Lake Hike in Mammoth Lakes, California – Quick Overview
Type: Out and back
Distance: 2.5 miles round trip
Elevation gain: 564 feet
Difficulty: Easy – moderate
Time needed: About 1-1.5 hours
Dogs are allowed on the trail
Heart Lake Hike in Mammoth Lakes – Trailhead Location
You will find the trailhead to Heart Lake at the Coldwater Campground in Mammoth Lakes, which is about a 20 minute drive from Mammoth proper.
We had trouble finding where, exactly this trailhead was so I’ll save you the trouble – the Heart Lake Trailhead is the same trailhead as the Duck Lake Pass trailhead. Heart Lake trailhead isn’t located on Google Maps for some reason, so if you put in Duck Lake Pass trailhead into Google Maps, it’ll lead you to the right area.
Hiking to Heart Lake in Mammoth Lakes, California
We were pretty surprised that hardly anyone else was on this trail, being that we visited over the busy 4th of July weekend! I think we saw 3 or 4 other people during our entire hike!
Anyway, the trail begins at the same location of the Duck Lake Pass trailhead. You will see a sign for Heart Lake at the trailhead so you’ll for sure know you’re in the right spot.
The first notable landmark when you start your hike is the Mammoth Consolidated Gold Mine, where you can find old ruins of a mining camp from days gone by. I thought this was pretty interesting – we stopped by it on our way back to the car.
After you pass the mining ruins, you then start your ascent up to the lake. While this trail only has 564 feet of elevation gain, it’s a steady climb nearly all at once. You’ll also go out of the forest, where there is no shade – and it can be brutally hot along this portion of the trail (make sure to wear sunscreen!) You’ll be treated to some beautiful views of the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains as you make your way up to the lake.
Eventually, you’ll go back into the forest, and you’ll be at Heart Lake before you know it. Heart Lake is at a clearing in the forest through which the trail takes you. This is a great spot for a lunch or a quick snack. I walked around the lake to photograph it from different viewpoints, as well as looking for a trail to take me higher to get a aerial viewpoint of Heart Lake – I wanted to see the actual heart shape of the lake which obviously can’t be done by the shoreline.
I did find a trail leading up, but it didn’t provide me with any good views of Heart Lake, just some alpine scenery. However, you can get a great shot of Lake Mary from above. I then headed back down to the lake, and then back to my car, fairly disappointed. I mean, from the shoreline, you definitely can’t tell it’s a heart-shaped lake!
But before heading back to the car, my sister and I checked out the Mammoth Consolidated Gold Mine’s old buildings and ruins. This is a 1/2 mile round trip detour, but I’d say it’s worth it if you like old timey mining camps and ghost towns.
Heart Lake in Mammoth Lakes – Final Thoughts
I’ll be honest, I don’t think that this was the most impressive alpine lake I’ve ever seen, nor did it look much like a heart – at least that I could tell, as you couldn’t get an overhead view of the lake from any trail that I could find. It was a nice hike – and fairly easy – but it wouldn’t be my first choice of hikes in the Mammoth Lakes area. We hiked to Parker Lake in nearby June Lake, California earlier in the morning, which was much more impressive. That said, if you don’t have time/ability/energy for one of the longer hikes in this area, the Heart Lake trail is a nice hike that most people can do.
Have you ever hiked to Heart Lake in Mammoth Lakes, California? What did you think?
