Minaret Summit is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...

on Highway 203 in the central Sierra Nevada. The pass, lying on the Madera-Mono County border, is within the Mammoth Ranger District of the

Inyo National Forest Inyo National Forest is a United States National Forest covering parts of the eastern Sierra Nevada of California and the White Mountains of California and Nevada. The forest hosts several superlatives, including Mount Whitney, the highest po ...

and located near

Devils Postpile National Monument Devils Postpile National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located near Mammoth Mountain in Eastern California. The monument protects Devils Postpile, an unusual rock formation of columnar basalt, “all closely and perfectly fitted together ...

Mammoth Lakes Mammoth Lakes is a town in Mono County, California, and is the county's only incorporated community. It is located immediately to the east of Mammoth Mountain, at an elevation of . As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 7,191, r ...

, and

Mammoth Mountain Mammoth Mountain is a lava dome complex partially located within the town of Mammoth Lakes, California, in the Inyo National Forest of Madera and Mono Counties. It is home to a large ski area primarily on the Mono County side. Mammoth Mount ...

. The elevation of the pass is about . Highway 203 ends at Minaret Summit. The road continues, now called Reds Meadow Road, until its dead end at the Reds Meadow Pack Station near the Rainbow Falls

trailhead A trailhead is the point at which a trail begins, where the trail is often intended for hiking, biking, horseback riding, or off-road vehicles. Modern trailheads often contain rest rooms, maps, sign posts and distribution centers for information ...

. Plans for a highway connecting the

Eastern Sierra The Eastern Sierra is a region in California comprising the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada, which includes Mono and Inyo Counties. The main thoroughfare is U.S. Route 395, which passes through Bridgeport, Lee Vining, Bishop, Big Pine, ...

and the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven c ...

via Minaret Summit had been discussed since the early days of highway building. The gap between Minaret Road, which runs northeast into the Sierra from

North Fork, California North Fork (formerly Brown's and Northfork; Mono wa?ahhpY', "cedar grove") is a census-designated place (CDP) in Madera County, California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census it had a population of 3,250. It is part of the Ma ...

, and the end of the Reds Meadow Road is less than . An area southwest of Minaret Summit was not included in the

Wilderness Act of 1964 The Wilderness Act of 1964 () was written by Howard Zahniser of The Wilderness Society. It created the legal definition of wilderness in the United States, and protected 9.1 million acres (37,000 km²) of federal land. The result of a lon ...

in order to leave a corridor for this potential highway. While Governor of California,

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

made a

horse packing A packhorse, pack horse, or sumpter refers to a horse, mule, donkey, or pony used to carry goods on its back, usually in sidebags or panniers. Typically packhorses are used to cross difficult terrain, where the absence of roads prevents the use o ...

trip into the area. Afterwards he supported conservationists' efforts to prevent this highway. Reagan continued his efforts after being elected

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

in 1980 and the area was eventually designated

wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

by the

California Wilderness Act of 1984 The California Wilderness Act of 1984 is a federal law (Public Law 98-425), passed by the United States Congress on September 28, 1984, that authorized the addition of over within the state of California to the National Wilderness Preservation ...

. The

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

escarpment is now a continuous

Wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

from Ball Mountain (near

Inyokern Inyokern (formerly Siding 16 and Magnolia) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kern County, California, United States. Its name derives from its location near the border between Inyo and Kern Counties. Inyokern is located west of Ridgecrest, a ...

) to

Tioga Pass Tioga Pass is a mountain pass in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California. State Route 120 runs through it, and serves as the eastern entry point for Yosemite National Park, at the Tioga Pass Entrance Station. It is the highest elevation ...

, a distance of about . The Summit offers views of the

Ritter Range The Ritter Range is a small mountain range within California's Sierra Nevada. Most of the mountain range lies within the Ansel Adams Wilderness. The John Muir Trail passes by many lakes within the Ritter Range. The most prominent peaks of the Ri ...

, including

The Minarets The Minarets are a series of jagged peaks located in the Ritter Range, a sub-range of the Sierra Nevada in the state of California. They are easily viewed from Minaret Summit, which is accessible by auto. Collectively, they form an arête, and a ...

Mount Ritter Mount Ritter is the highest mountain in Madera County, California, Madera County, California, in the Western United States, at an elevation of . It is also the highest and most prominent peak of its namesake, the Ritter Range, a subrange of the S ...

and Banner Peak, to the west and the

Long Valley Caldera Long Valley Caldera is a depression in eastern California that is adjacent to Mammoth Mountain. The valley is one of the Earth's largest calderas, measuring about long (east-west), wide (north-south), and up to deep. Long Valley was formed ...

, the

Glass Mountains The Glass Mountains (also known as Gloss Mountains or Gloss Hills) are not actually mountains, but a series of mesas and buttes that are part of the Blaine Escarpment that extends from the Permian red beds of northwestern Oklahoma in Major Co ...

and the White Mountains to the east. The Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River runs through the valley between the Summit and the Minarets. The pass receives significant snowfall during the winter. The road usually closes near the Main Lodge of

Mammoth Mountain Ski Area Mammoth Mountain Ski Area is a large ski resort in the western United States, located in eastern California along the east side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the Inyo National Forest. Mammoth has more than of ski-able terrain, service ...

before

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...

and usually doesn't open much before

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

. In October 2008 items belonging to missing adventurer

Steve Fossett James Stephen Fossett (April 22, 1944 – September 3, 2007) was an American businessman and a record-setting aviator, sailor, and adventurer. He was the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon and in a fixed-wing aircraf ...

were found by Preston Morrow on a hike near

Minaret Lake Minaret Lake is a lake in the Ritter Range, a subrange of the Sierra Nevada, in California. It is located in extreme northeastern Madera County, within the Ansel Adams Wilderness of the Inyo National Forest. Minaret Lake is notable for bein ...

,New Clues Uncovered in Steve Fossett Disappearance
/ref> which is in an area visible from Minaret Summit. This led to the discovery of his remains and aircraft.

References

{{Sierra Nevada, state=collapsed Mountain passes of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Inyo National Forest Landforms of Madera County, California Landforms of Mono County, California