Mammoth Mountain Panorama Scenic Gondola — Local services in Mammoth Lakes

Gondola Ride to Mammoth Mountain Summit – A Breathtaking Summer Adventure

After a peaceful morning boating on Convict Lake, we made a spontaneous detour to Mammoth hoping to visit Devil’s Postpile. Unfortunately, the road was closed for maintenance—but what a silver lining we found instead! We opted to take the scenic Gondola ride to the summit of Mammoth Mountain ($40 per person), and it ended up being one of the most memorable highlights of our trip.

The ride itself is smooth and stunning, but nothing compares to arriving at the summit elevation of 11,053 feet. The air is noticeably thinner—literally breathtaking—and the views are out of this world. In the summer months, mountain bikers can load their bikes and ride the thrilling trails down the mountain. It looked like a blast—definitely something we will consider for a future visit.

At the top, we explored the Summit Interpretive Center, which is fantastic for kids and adults alike. It’s filled with exhibits showcasing the local wildlife, alpine plants, geology, and the history of the surrounding peaks. One of our favorite features was the mounted telescopes aimed at key landmarks like the Minarets, Mt. Ritter, Banner Peak, and Bloody Mountain—each with background on the explorers who first charted them.

From there, we hiked out to the elevation marker at 11,053 feet, and on a whim continued further across the summit. We’re so glad we did—on the other side, we were rewarded with a jaw-dropping view of the five Mammoth Lakes sparkling below. It felt like discovering a secret bonus view!

Pro tips: It’s very windy at the top, so bring lip balm, sunglasses, layers, and make sure your hat is secure or it’ll blow away. The air is thin, so take your time if you’re not acclimated to the elevation.

Whether you’re a hiker, biker, photographer, or just a lover of epic landscapes, this summit ride is absolutely worth it. A perfect way to elevate your Mammoth Lakes...

We road the gondola for a summer scenic tour in June. There were beautiful views of the mountains, valleys, and can even see Mono Lake and Lake Crowley in the distance. From the top of the mountain we hiked over to see the Mammoth Lakes. On the opposite side, we thought we saw the back of Half Dome, but it was actually Balloon Dome... so no you cannot see Yosemite from the top of Mammoth Mountain lol! The nature/interpretive center was very informational and the workers were very helpful and knowledgeable. My husband tried out the grilled cheese sandwich in the cafe next to the interpretive center and said it was the best he ever had! The midpoint gondola station was closed when we visited for construction, so we are not able to review that portion. My son did drop his water bottle and scared us half to death, but we were perfectly safe the entire time. The only thing we did not like was the price of a ticket. If you buy tickets online in advance or bundle them with the shuttle tickets to Devil's Postpile, then you can save money. I did appreciate that kids were free with adult tickets, but if we had been charged for adults and children tickets separately and at lower prices, then we would maybe have paid less because we only had one child. The current type of pricing only really favors families with...

We bought our tickets in advance for the scenic gondola. We mainly did this because during summer they allow well behaved pets on the gondolas as well (I even checked with their client services and they confirmed) . However, the employees are quite unknowable of that and we kept getting pulled to the side since they need to confirm that as well. During the ride, you’ll stop once and they’ll load more people into your gondola who are skiing/snowboarding which absolutely obstructs the views (it’s a scenic gondola we paid for?) Once you make it to the summit you basically have to take a gondola back down because there is nothing pet friendly up top, you can’t be in the building nor anywhere on the snow with them. We only got to enjoy the ride down as nobody was going down- in my opinion, it was too much of a hassle and would not...