Largest populated city in Inyo County, with many vacation destinations and tourist attractions in the Sierra Nevada located nearby
From Las Vegas (266 mi): Get on I-515 N/US-95 N from N 4th St and Exit I-15 N. Follow US-95 N, NV-266 W and CA-168 W to US-395 N in Bishop.
From Los Angeles (266 mi): Get on US-101 N from W Temple St. Follow CA-14 N to US-395 N in Bishop.
Overview
Bishop (formerly Bishop Creek) is a city in California and is the largest populated place and only incorporated city in Inyo County. Bishop is located near the northern end of the Owens Valley, at an elevation of 4,150 feet (1,260 m). The city was named after Bishop Creek, flowing out of the Sierra Nevada; the creek was named after Samuel Addison Bishop, a settler in the Owens Valley. Bishop is a commercial and residential center, while many vacation destinations and tourist attractions in the Sierra Nevada are located nearby.
A number of western films were shot in Bishop, including movies starring John Wayne, Charlton Heston and Joel McCrea.
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History and heritage
The City of Bishop was named for one of the first European settlers in the area, Samuel A. Bishop. Owens Lake was named for Richard Owens, a member of John C. Fremont's 1845 exploration party which included Kit Carson and Ed Kern. Later the entire valley became known as The Owens Valley (see First Settlers below). The Paiute Indians called Owens Lake by the name of "Pacheta" and the Owens River "Wakopee." Inyo County contains the both the highest and lowest points in the contiguous United States; Mt. Whitney, 14,496 feet above sea level, and Badwater in Death Valley, 282 feet below sea level. The "Inyo" in Inyo County is commonly believed to be a Paiute word meaning "dwelling place of the great spirit," although some scholars are now convinced that it is a mistranslation of the word Indio, which is Spanish for Indian.
Bishop is immediately to the east of the Sierra Nevada, and west of the White Mountains. Numerous peaks are within a short distance of Bishop, including Mount Humphreys (13,986 ft.), to the west, White Mountain Peak (14,242 ft.) in the northeast, and pyramidal Mount Tom (13,658 ft.) northwest of town. Basin Mountain (13,187 ft.) is viewed to the west from Bishop as it rises above the Buttermilks.
Bishop is well known in the rock climbing community. Near the city are numerous climbing spots that attract visitors from around the world. There are over 2,000 bouldering problems in Bishop. The two main types of rock are volcanic tuff (at the Happy and Sad boulders) and granite (at the Buttermilks).
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Bishop, California", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
