Newcomers at Mono Lake are often astonished by what they find. After all, the bizarre-looking towers that surround the beautiful body of water in Mono County are truly unlike anything you’ve seen before. Known as tufa towers, these strange geologic formations look like they’ve been pulled from the landscape of another planet. Seeing them in person is a must in order to truly appreciate their uniqueness, so plan a visit to Mono Lake to see these rare rock forms with your own eyes.
Located near Yosemite National Park, Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve is the type of place that you have to see to fully believe. The ancient lake itself is a sight to see, but the tufa towers surrounding it solidifies it as one of the strangest landscapes in the state.
Mono Lake is an absolutely mesmerizing body of water that covers about 65-square-miles. At over one million years old, it's considered one of the oldest lakes in all of North America.
It's incredible that this ancient lake is still around and open to visitors, but it's the lake's iconic tufa towers that are bound to leave you in awe. These towers are actually calcium-carbonate spires and knobs that are formed via a very specific geologic process that takes place in the lake's waters.
Tufa towers grow underwater when freshwater and alkaline lake water interact with each other. Mono Lake is considered very alkaline, and experts say it's about 2.5 times as salty as ocean water. As freshwater evaporates every year, salt and minerals that were washed into the lake from the Eastern Sierra get left behind.
The towers can grow to impressive heights of over 30-feet. You can see many of the towers poking out of the lake's waters or situated around the border of the lake. This is because the lake's level fell dramatically after water diversions began in 1941, exposing the tufa as the water level receded.
It's rare to find tufa anywhere else in the world, although they can be found at certain Great Basin desert lakes in Nevada, and even off the coast of Greenland. To protect these incredible geologic wonders, the area around Mono Lake was turned into a state reserve in 1981.
Visitors are welcome to visit Mono Lake Tufa SNR at any time to see these otherworldly towers firsthand. The Mono Basin Scenic Area Visitor Center is an excellent place to start your adventure here. You'll find it located off of Highway 395, just north of Lee Vining.
