You’ve likely swooned over images of dirt roads and massive mountains on Instagram. Maybe there’s an aspiring influencer or someones truck on that dirt road, allowing you picture yourself right there in their place. There’s a good chance that photo was captured in the Alabama Hills, which are on the East side of the Sierra Mountains in California. It’s where the highest peaks in the United States meet the desert, creating a beautiful environment that is unique and captivating.
The Alabama Hills are about six hours from Sacramento, down Highway 395. If you’re coming from Los Angeles, they’re about three hours away. And not to forget about my Central San Joaquin Valley adventures, it’s about four hours from Fresno heading down Highway 99 and dipping around the Sierra to catch Highway 395 north.
If you’ve seen the movie Tremors you’ve seen the Alabama Hills.
The Alabama Hills are a formation of rounded rocks and eroded hills set between the Sierra Nevada and Inyo Mountains. Both geologic features were shaped 100 million years ago by the same uplifting event. The Alabama Hills area (Payahuunadü) is on the traditional land of the Paiute and Shoshone (Nüümü and Newe) people. It is a visually rich area often used in movies. When we visited in late spring there was a fantastic migration of butterflies.
It can be a harsh and rugged environment, but such a fun one for your family with proper precautions and proper gear. It can get very warm during the day in the summer and very cold at night throughout the year. The wind can come howling down the Sierra. It can also snow at times, which regardless of the inconveniences of roughing it in the snow, would be awesome to see.
Camping (new changes and restrictions) in the Alabama Hills
It’s a popular place and has only gotten more popular. In fact, organizations have now stepped in to help preserve the awesomeness of the Alabama Hills. Though this means some big changes, which include limiting camping areas, establishing day-use areas, and eventually requiring a permit (an informational one similar to a fire permit) to camp in certain areas. There are now six porta potties as well.
I’m writing this in February 2022, and camping is allowed east of Movie Road, which is the main road in the Alabama Hills. To the west is the area where the Tremors rock pole vaulting scene took place, and no camping is allowed there. Soon – and by the look of it, very soon – camping will be limited to a very specific area of the Alabama Hills, which are circled in purple below and available on this map. The area that you often see associated with the Alabama Hills is in the lower right portion, where it says Movie Flat.
There are actual campgrounds nearby, which is where I think these organizations really want you to camp. Here’s a list of campgrounds all a stone’s throw away from Movie Flat: BLM Tuttle Creek Campground, the Inyo National Forest Lone Pine Campground, and the Inyo County Portuguese Joe Campground.
What gear do I need to camp in the Alabama Hills?
This is the good part. I love gear, hence why I call myself a GearDad. I love camping in the Alabama Hills because it is dispersed camping, meaning that whatever you need, you have to bring. Water, food, storage, shelter, bathroom (bring your own over using a porta pottie). Do you need a big 4×4 to get around. No. A little bit of clearance and good tires certainly helped when looking for a campsite, given we went Memorial Day Weekend and it was jammed pack, but I never engaged 4 wheel drive. If you stick to the main road, you’ll have no problem getting around.
Back to gear. This trip was B.C. – before children – but the basics of what you need are here, and other than our shelter, wouldn’t change much for me now that I have a little one.
Tents for the Alabama Hills
Let’s start with shelter. I wouldn’t call myself an overlander, but I love that a whole industry has exploded to meet the equipment needs of those looking to get off the beaten path with their vehicles and experience the outdoors in a way that most people don’t. There is so much cool gear out there, and shelters/tents are no exception. You can definitely get by with a Coleman nylon tent, especially if it’s a short trip. You have to keep in mind that he weather can be sporadic, with the wind being a large consideration. I saw all kinds of tents out there from canvas tents to rooftop tents.
We used the TopperLift Nomad for our short-bed Tacoma, which adds a tent connected to your topper, over the your tailgate to give you that extra space for sleeping. I grabbed this set up soon after they started selling them, and it was been awesome. Get the insulated privacy panels, not only do they keep you warm and things private, they’re great for hiding all your gear in the back while traveling. I was looking very hard at a similar product on Amazon that allows you to use your topper and tailgate to give you a bit more room, it just didn’t seem like it was going to fit my truck, but that price looks good.
We didn’t have a platform or anything and used a truck mattress to sleep on. That’s not the exact one we have (I don’t think they make them anymore), but that one has great reviews and is a similar idea. If you do sleep in the back of your truck, attach a light to the ceiling to make things way easier when you need to see in the dark. And that is the Yescom awning in the photo, which I really like and is on my truck year-round. And the levelers are actually Go Treads, which are a great recovery tool to have with you. They take up much less space than others are well made, plus you can see they serve multiple purposes.
When considering what tent/shelter to use when camping in the Alabama Hills, be sure to consider the weather have a plan in your head for various scenarios. With kids, I’d probably lean toward a large canvas tent or quick nylon set up tent, with a cot.
Food and water storage for the Alabama Hills
There is no food truck in the Alabama Hills, so you’ll have to bring your own food and water with you. This really isn’t a departure from what I normally do anyways, so this gear gets used often on outings. There are a lot of opinions on water cans for camping out there, and the prices vary just as much. I have used the Reliance Products 7 gallon cans for a few years and are pretty happy with them. I have two and use one for drinking water and the other for hand washing – though I’ve always wanted this set up for hand washing while camping but just haven’t pulled the trigger.
Coolers may be even more of a debated topic, as brand loyalty clashes with pocketbook sensibilities. The favorites continue to be Yeti, RTIC, Igloo, and classic Coleman. All of those are going to keep your food cold, especially if you precondition your cooler. The question is for how long will they do so. That’s always going to depend on a lot of factors, such as the weather and how ofter you’re opening them. I opted to go with a rotomolded cooler given it’s reputation for keeping food cold for days at a time, but I need to find a deal given I was loading up on gear for this trip.
I ended up going with the Monoprice Emperor 50 Gallon cooler, which is a darn good deal for rotomolded coolers. I’ll do a review just on the cooler, but I have to say I got my money’s worth with and more. It’s heavy duty – and very heavy, especially loaded up – but has great features like bottle opener, rope handles, drain plug and measuring markers. It held ice for the three days we were camping and a few more sitting in the garage at home afterwards. Do yourself a favor and get the version with wheels though.
For cooking we use a Snowpeak Baja Burner, which we got after having the Snowpeak backpacking stove. The Baja Burner is great, but I would be just as happy with a Coleman stove. We brought the big Coleman barbecue with us on this trip too, but could have easily got by with the regular stoves. The problem with being a GearDad is you want to bring all the gear.
Going to the bathroom in the Alabama Hills
I was admittedly a little concerned about going poop in the Alabama Hills. There were no bathrooms and you needed to pack it all out. But it was life changing to find a solution that worked, as we use it all the time when camping now. We got the Reliance Products Fold-to-Go portable toilet because it has a high weight limit and solid reviews. I’m not pushing 300 pounds, but I also don’t want my toilet to collapse mid-poop. We got Eco Gel to go with it and the Reliance Double Duty bags. For privacy we got this little pop up tent. Be sure to watch a video on how to fold it before leaving. I spent so long trying to fold it back up, there’s a reason this video on how to fold a pop up privacy tent it has over 300,000 views.
This set up was amazing and I’ll never use a vaulted toilet again if I can help it. Pro-tip, use some gloves to seal the bags. We actually have gloves, toilet paper, wet wipes and hand sanitizer in an ammo can (great storage options) that stays with the toilet kit.
Camping in the Alabama Hills
If you’re thinking of going, just go. It’s absolutely worth seeing and it’s such an awesome place to spend a few nights in. The stars are absolutely amazing as they fill the night sky.
