Best places to live for access?

[erutan]

If it wasn't for the junior water rights in Owens Valley and my uncertainty with the value of land there by the time I'd be retiring I'd probably be trying to settle around Bishop. I do most of my hikes off 395, it's large enough to have useful shops & restaurants, centrally located from trailheads on the east side. Mellow winters with pleasant spring and fall and I'd try to be at altitude as much as I can in the summer so the high temps then aren't as much of an issue. You can easily drive up to snow in the winter, but don't have to live in it.

#vanlife in Mammoth for the summer works well.

[tahoefoothills]

Reno is not a perfect location, but it offers very decent access to the Eastern Sierra. Minden and Gardnerville south of Reno are even closer to where you may want to go. The Reno airport probably has direct flights to San Diego.

[SSSdave]

Have over decades also considered Carson Valley/Reno and Bishop as places to retire to or at least use as second homes in season. Note am a hard core skier in winter so Carson City was more likely. But by time I retired in 2017, real estate speculations had already priced me out. Also to be honest, I've come to view living in the SFBA as a gregarious senior with a high tech and science background to have many advantages with a long list of non-outdoor activities to fill my days. For instance, I live just a half mile from a Light Rail route so with a senior Clipper card I can use public transportation to travel cheaply just about anywhere. That is complemented with extensive bus lines throughout the vast Bay region. That noted, there are also a list of well-known negatives like traffic and crime. Maybe the strongest advantage for those like this SS medicare person in their eighth decade is close access to top level medical care and note am getting some of that currently.

Beyond the Sierra Nevada, REITs, real estate corps,and their armies of speculators, have already made living in even smaller cities anywhere near natural areas impossible. That noted, if I thought an apocalypse was likely looming, I'd move to Crescent City, Eureka, or Fort Brag.

[Wandering Daisy]

Bishop has historically had very poor air quality at times. Supposedly the restoration of Ownes Valley should eventually mitigate this. But in the last few years of wildfires, smoke has poured down the valley. But I suppose getting out of smoke anywhere is now a problem during wildfire season. Maybe very pricey and very limited housing, but Mammoth Lakes area including Crowley Lake seems to be ideal- easy access to Bishop stuff yet up about 2000 feet into cooler summers.

[GGC23]

Another vote here for Bishop! It's an amazing place to live for access to summer hiking. Every winter, I wish I lived in Mammoth for better access to skiing (although I'm sure I'd be singing a different tune if I actually lived there and had to shovel all that snow). But during spring, summer, and fall, I love being in Bishop.

Mammoth is ungodly expensive, so if you want to live there for a summer, be prepared to pay LA / SF prices for a rental. Bishop is more affordable, but rental options are extremely limited. If you'll only be here temporarily, I'd consider looking at Big Pine. I would find it annoying to live in Big Pine long term because you have to drive into Bishop to do anything, but if you're only here temporarily, that shouldn't be too much of an issue.

Air quality will be horrific on the entire Eastside if we get bad fires this summer (which we undoubtedly will), but I don't think that there's anywhere you can live in CA that will give you guaranteed good air and easy access to hiking and fishing. I have never noticed any ill effects on the air quality from DWP's water exports and the artificially arid nature of the Owens Valley. Keeler and Lone Pine can be impacted by dust blowing off the dry Owens Lake bed, but that's far from Bishop and generally, that only happens in the spring / fall when we get the worst winds.

[NorCal_Hiker]

If you prefer the west-side then Twain Harte is a good choice, lots of nice day hikes and backpacking off of 108 and less crowded than many places. If proximity to hiking is more important than access to groceries etc., I would also consider the Strawberry / Cold Springs area further up 108. You could have hiking out your door and are only ~45 minutes from Sonora Pass and ~2 hours from a number of good east-side trailheads for weekend trips.

[erutan]

I’ll second never really noticing poor air quality in bishop (outside of fires) especially as compared to the Central Valley. I haven’t lived there but have spent time there in summer/fall/winter.

It was interesting poking around https://ladwpeasternsierra.com/ and seeing some of what they’re up to. I’m personally somewhat pessimistic about that lasting for decades once things dry up.

Another option would be to try and get a deal on a camper trailer or something with AC if you have a pickup that can tow and float around RV parks. More expensive, but it’d be a sort of sampler platter of the range.

[paula53]

I second Minden/Gardnerville area. I live in Carson City. The eastern side of the Sierra is an easy drive . Bridgeport, Hoover Wilderness, Levitt Meadows, 2 hours away, Yosemite is 3 hours away to the main gate. 3 1/2 hours will get you June Lakes, and Mammoth Lakes. Less traffic and beautiful scenery. Lake Tahoe and Desolation Wilderness are very close by. The Tahoe Rim Trail is just uphill.

[maiathebee]

I moved from the bay to north Lake Tahoe in April 2020. I can hike to the PCT from my house and drive to "big boy" eastern Sierra in less time than it took me to get to Tahoe from the bay (Bridgeport is 2.5 hours). But it takes me 5 hours to get to Yosemite valley and 6-7 to get to westside SeKi. So, it changes the types of trips I do.

I really value being able to be outside somewhere beautiful without having to get in my car, and Tahoe is great for that. I can hike to swimming holes and ridges with views of Lake Tahoe right from my front door. It is crowded in summer, though, and you need to be strategic about what you want to do. A lot of that is getting up early, which doesn't fit with your 6-3 schedule.

Here's my internet when I'm the farthest spot from my router. It's 3x this when I'm in the same room.

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[c9h13no3]

I really value being able to be outside somewhere beautiful without having to get in my car, and Tahoe is great for that.

Yeah, Tahoe probably wins for this, no matter where you are in the northern part of the state. Areas of Marin, Santa Cruz, or Mammoth can get close, but nothing with as large an area as Tahoe. No matter where you live in the Tahoe basin, you probably have amazing hiking & biking a short walk from your door.

Sure, Bishop has a lot of stuff that's a short drive away. But nothing you're going to do on your lunch break in 45 minutes. If you lived in Bishop, your weekends would be stellar. But your weekdays wouldn't change much I'd think.