Lee Vining is in western Mono County along
U.S. Route 395, at the eastern base of the
Sierra Nevada. US 395 leads northwest to Bridgeport, the Mono
county seat, and southeast the same distance to the junction for
Mammoth Lakes.
California State Route 120 climbs west from Lee Vining to the top of
Tioga Pass, the east entrance to
Yosemite National Park. According to the
United States Census Bureau, the Lee Vining CDP covers an area of , 99.95% of it land and 0.05% of it water.
Climate Lee Vining, on the boundary between the
Sierra Nevada and
Great Basin ecoregions, has a transitional climate: warmer and drier than the mountains to the west but cooler and much snowier than the vast desert to the east. Despite only getting of water-equivalent precipitation annually, the town averages nearly of snow, sometimes falling as late as April or even May. Precipitation is highest in the winter months of December through March, but some can be expected to fall every month of the year, and the town does not typically experience the four to six month dry spells of more coastal parts of California. ==Economy==