Desert Wonder · California

Mono Lake Tufa

Ancient tufa towers rising from an alkaline lake

TypeDesert Wonder
StateCalifornia
Best seasonSummer & fall (Tioga Pass open)
How to visitSouth Tufa area, small fee; easy boardwalk

A primordial inland sea on the dry side of the Sierra, studded with knobby tufa towers that grew underwater and now stand exposed along the south shore. At dawn the spires and their reflections turn the lake into another planet.

The shot

South Tufa spires mirrored at sunrise.

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