Lee Vining (formerly Leevining, Poverty Flat, and Lakeview) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Mono County, California, United States. It is located south-southeast of Bridgeport, at an elevation of . Lee Vining is located on the southwest shore of Mono Lake. The population was 217 as of the 2020 census. History The town was named after Leroy Vining, who founded the town in 1852 as a mining camp. In 1926, the town was laid out by Chris Mattly and named "Lakeview", but when a post office was sought in 1928, it was learned that another town, Lakeview, California, already had the name. The name of Lee Vining was chosen in 1953. The place was also called "Poverty Flat" for its unfavorable conditions for agriculture. Geography 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 The economy of Lee Vining relies largely on tourism, since it is the closest town to the east entrance of Yosemite National Park, and is near other tourist destinations such as Mono Lake, the ghost town of Bodie, popular trout fishing destinations, and June Mountain and Mammoth Mountain ski areas and the June Lake recreational area. Although off-season tourism has increased in recent years, most tourists visit in the summer months because State Route 120 through Yosemite is often closed