Highway 120 East, Benton, CA
- Tim Mayhew
- May 1
- 2 min read
Updated: May 4
Highway 120 - the Eastern leg- from Lee Vining toward Benton near the Nevada border offers a completely different flavor of adventure. This high-altitude desert run is a long-standing Pashnit favorite, featuring smooth pavement and the pungent, camphor-like aroma of springtime sagebrush.
As you head east from Highway 395, don't miss the short off-road trek to the rim of Panum Crater, (a short distance from Highway 395 & easy to miss) a 600-year-old volcanic dome that stands as the youngest mountain range in North America. Then take the short detour to South Tufa at Mono Lake to walk among otherworldly limestone towers on the edge of the lake. At just the right time of year, the lake shore is completely black, and moving, covered in Alkali flies.
Highway 120 bumps up and over Sagehen Summit at 8439 ft then drops off the mountain into a series of legendary "whoops"—rolling pavement transitions that make your heart drop into your toes at the right speed.
Highway 120 can be combined with Benton Crossing Rd to create a 68-mile loop, traveling up and over the Wildrose Summit at 7667 ft and back to Highway 395 near Mammoth meeting up with 395 on the south side of the Mammoth Airport and the “Little Green Church”.
Ride it clockwise, or counter-clockwise, this loop start and ends at nearly the same place. The Benton-Crossing Loop (with Hwy 120) is a vast, lonely stretch of high desert where you can easily ride for 50 miles without seeing another soul. Just remember to top off your tank in Lee Vining or June Lake; once you pass the ghost town site of Mono Mills, you are entering a beautiful, desolate void where you’ll want plenty of fuel and extra layers for the altitude.
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