The Mono Basin is an endorheic

Endorheic

An endorheic basin is a closed drainage basin that retains water and allows no outflow to other bodies of water such as rivers or oceans...

 drainage basin

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 located east of Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park is a United States National Park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California, United States. The park covers an area of and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain...

 in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 and Nevada

Nevada

Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

. It is bordered to the west by the Sierra Nevada, to the east by the Cowtrack Mountains, to the north by the Bodie Hills

Bodie Hills

The Bodie Hills are a low mountain range in Mono County, California, is where the mining district and town of Bodie, California is located. The Hills are between Bridgeport and the Nevada border, where they become the Bodie Mountains in Mineral County, Nevada...

, and to the south by the north ridge of the Long Valley Caldera

Long Valley Caldera

Long Valley Caldera is a depression in eastern California that is adjacent to Mammoth Mountain. The valley is one of the largest calderas on earth, measuring about long and wide . The elevation of the floor of the caldera is in the east and in the west...

.

Estimates of the size of the basin range from 634 to 801 square miles, and the basin's elevation ranges from around 6,380 feet (level of Mono Lake

Mono Lake

Mono Lake is a large, shallow saline lake in Mono County, California, formed at least 760,000 years ago as a terminal lake in a basin that has no outlet to the ocean...

 as of 1986) to 13,061 feet atop Mount Dana

Mount Dana

Mount Dana is a mountain on the eastern edge of Yosemite National Park in the U.S. state of California. At an elevation of , it is the second highest mountain in Yosemite . Mount Dana is the highest peak in Yosemite that is a simple hike to the summit...

 near the Sierra Crest

Sierra Crest

The Sierra Crest is a ~ generally north-to-south ridgeline that demarcates the broad west and narrow east slopes of the Sierra Nevada and that extends as far east as the Sierra's topographic front...

.

Geologically the basin is a structural basin that is bordered to the west by the frontal fault of the Sierra Nevada. The basin has developed over the past three million years.

Notable features in the basin include Mono Lake and the Mono-Inyo Craters

Mono-Inyo Craters

The Mono–Inyo Craters is a volcanic chain of craters, domes and lava flows in Eastern California that stretches from the northwest shore of Mono Lake to the south of Mammoth Mountain. The chain is located in Mono County in the U.S. state of California...

, as well as the town of Lee Vining

Lee Vining, California

Lee Vining is a census-designated place in Mono County, California, United States. It is located south-southeast of Bridgeport, at an elevation of 6781 feet . Lee Vining is located on the southwest shore of Mono Lake. The population was 222 as of the 2010 census, down from 250 reported as of 2000...

.