Mammoth Lakes is one of my favorite places in the world both in winter and summer. In the winter, there are skiing, snow boarding, cross-country skiing, snow shoeing, and great after-ski bars. In the summer, there are biking, hiking, jazz festivals, wine festivals, and gondolo rides. Favorite hikes inlcude convict lake, hot creek lake, june lake, devil's postpile, rainbow falls, and crystal lake. If you are very adventurous, hike into the minaret lakes, which follows some of the John Muir trail and is about 9 miles each way. Yosemite village is about 90 miles away, traveling by way of Tiogo Pass, which is open only during the summer.