California trails · Green Creek Trail
Green Creek Trail
A 10.4-mile out-and-back in California, with 3,109 ft of climbing. Reaches Virginia Lakes and other lake destinations. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Elevation profile
Most of the climbing sits in the first third — 88% of the ascent, between mile 0.0 and mile 3.5. It gives back about 3,279 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Virginia Lakes (lake)
- Hoover Lakes (lake)
- Nutter Lake (lake)
- Frog Lakes (lake)
- Blue Lake (lake)
- Cooney Lake (lake)
- Gilman Lake (lake)
- East Lake (lake)
- Big Valley Lake (lake)
Heads up
Getting there
Green Creek Trail access — parking nearby. About 1 h 42 min drive (58 mi, 9 of them unpaved) from Mammoth Lakes. 38.10896, -119.27908 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:38 a.m., the sun rises at 7:04 a.m. and sets at 6:20 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 6:47 p.m. (PDT) — 11 h 16 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 20.8-mile round trip takes roughly 10 h 48 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 5:52 p.m. — 28 min before sunset.
Loop options
- Green Creek + Green Creek Trail — 5.8 mi loop, 454 ft gain
- Green Creek + Green Creek Trail — 11.4 mi loop, 1,234 ft gain
Nearby trails
- Green Creek — 0.3 mi
- Robinson Creek — 6.2 mi
- Robinson Creek Trail — 6.6 mi
- 20 Lakes Basin Loop — 8.8 mi