There are many reasons Mammoth is the nation’s finest place for a ski vacation. Parking, however, isn’t one of them. Is it because the ski area was developed incrementally over the last sixty years? that Main Street and Minaret Road are really SR203 which is managed by the state and hard to modify? or that Dave McCoy really only cared about the skiing and parking was his problem. It’s hard to know, but with experience and careful observation decent parking outcomes are achievable.
If the pass is in the jacket, the skis are in the car and there’s lots of snow on the ground consider parking away from the lodges. The best lodge sundered parking areas are on Minaret Rd. near the bottoms of Chair 4 ( Rollercoaster Express ), Chair 21 ( Chair 10 parking ) and Chair 2 ( Stump Alley Express ). Of these Chair 2 parking is by far the most popular. Its near the Mill restaurant and has a fun apres tailgate loose dog scene, but it can be crowded. Chair 10 parking ( near the bottom of Chair 21 ) is just down hill from Chair 2. It’s smaller and mellower than Chair 2 and it fills up latter. A short walk up hill past a snowcat garage is required to get to the slopes but for most of the winter there’s skiable snow right down to the lot. Chair 4 parking is quite a bit farther downhill from Chair 10 parking. This is a great spot. It’s usually less crowded than the other two and it’s easy to ski right to the car at the end of the day. The Chair 4 lot is about 200 yards from the bottom of Chair 4 but the path to it is flat and groomed allowing a quick, healthy, possibly heart attack inducing ski skate to the lift. The Main Lodge parking shuttle stops at all three of these lots but there are better places to park when going Main Lodge.
If its early season, late season or if there are things that need to be taken care of before skiing, head to Main Lodge. Many of the free spots near the lodge are taken by employees and are very hard to get. The best free parking at Main is at the B and C signs on the mountain side of Minaret Road. These spots are a decent way off the road and the parking shuttle stops right at the signs on the return trip. Cross the road to get picked up by the shuttle. Parking between B and C when there’s a spot near the C sign is a blunder. The spots between B and C will require a walk to and from the B or C sign and a dangerous backup into Minaret Road at the end of the day. Parking at the D sign is crappy. The downhill drop off and the uphill pickup signs are far enough apart that there’s an unavoidable morning or afternoon trudge to get picked up or dropped off. Better to park farther downhill than to park at D. The best parking, of course, is not free parking. It’s the pay lot right in front of the lodge. These spots are dynamically priced in a range from $20 to $40 or possibly more. If that sounds like too dynamic of a price for a parking spot, consider a princess drop off and have the driver park in a previously recommended area. If those aren’t available the wilds between chair 10 parking and chair 4 parking almost always have spaces. Sure the driver will end up with a long shuttle ride but that can be be a nice time to collect one’s thoughts in a princess free environment. Remember to take the parking shuttle, not the Redline, to get back to the car. If the only parking available is downhill of chair 4, the gig is up. Drive back into town and catch the Redline.
The Redline bus travels between Snowcreek Athletic Club and Main Lodge visiting each stop along the way every 20 minutes. The best place to pick it up is at the Carl Jr’s/Vons parking area ( stop #8 ). This stop always has parking and is early enough in the route that seats are almost always available. Avoid trying to catch the Redline at the Village ( stop #18 ). It’s the last stop on the way to Main so not only is it rare to get a seat but on busy days full busses drive right past stop #18 without picking any one up! pitty the fools. Remember to take the Redline, not the parking shuttle, to get back to Carl Jr’s.
Canyon Lodge is the by far the busiest building on Mammoth Mountain and parking spots there are in high demand. It’d be easy to say “avoid it at all costs” except for one small thing, the best ~30 free places to park on the Eastside are there! From town, never take Canyon Blvd. to get to Canyon Lodge. Instead travel west on SR203, which masquerades as Main Street, go straight through the light at the corner of Main and Minaret, after which the road is called Lake Mary Road and is no longer SR203 as SR203 has made a right at the light and taken on its previously mentioned nom de guerre, Minaret. Continue west past another light at the corner of Lake Mary Rd. and Canyon Blvd. and onward for about a mile till there is a road going steeply uphill to the right. Turn on to it. This road might not have a name but it’s heated, ends where it intersects Lakeview Blvd. and has been called the voodoo chute by some. Left on Lakeview and continue uphill until Canyon lodge is in view. Lakeview ends at what seems like the top of the Canyon Lodge parking lot but it may be Canyon Blvd. which has wrapped around somehow, regardless turn left here to find California's finest parking. The prime spots are at the top the road where it turns left or ends at the left turn perhaps. Don’t park on Davidson Road, it’s not permitted.
What makes these spots so good? Mostly it's the zero walk ski off of the tailgate to Chair 16 start to the day. But what’s more, if skiing blacks or dark grays at the end of the day doesn’t sound like a terrible idea there’s also a zero walk ski on to the tailgate way back to the parking spot! Take a run down Blue Jay until the Festival Poma is visible to the right then cut right, above the top of the Poma, and traverse right to the parking spot. It doesn’t get any better than that, ever. The traverse isn’t always possible, it depends on snow conditions.
There’s tell of another “Lodge” somewhere else on Mammoth Mountain. It may or may not have parking near it IDK.
Mike
