Expert: Steve Summers - 12/13/2006

Question
thank you steve for the previous answer. i have been to all the local lakes and they are too crowded, maybe because there are a trillion perple in la. have you been to isabella lately? i was searching my memory and remembered it, but it's been a good 7 years since i've been there. any thoughts? by the way, my dad lives in truckee so the tahoe area is by far the best i've camped for sheer awe! thanks again.
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my family goes camping each year, and have decided to go lake camping this year. do you have some favorites. driving from the west valley and would like to stay within 2 or 2 1/2 hours. usually 4 to 8 of us ranging from 7 to 60 years old. thanks for your time and help.
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Hi Rob,

The trouble with SoCal is that there are so few lakes. Something about the whole area being a desert. However, I do have a few places to go:

Big Bear Lake-Serrano Campground is located on the north shore just steps from the lake. If that's full, try Pine Knot campground near Snow Summit. Big Bear is a good place to get out of the heat of the valley, except on the hottest days.

Lake Cachuma- Located in the hills above Santa Barbara. While fishing is allowed, there is no recreational use of the water: no swimming, no pwc's, etc.

Lake Piru- Located in Ventura County, this has some very nice campgrounds as well as recreational use. Close enough to Ventura or Santa Barbara for a day trip.

Pyramid Lake- Located adjacent to I-5 near Gorman, it's a popular boating lake. However, there are no campgrounds on the lakefront.

Castaic Lake- Day use only, no camping. North of Valencia. Just included it to be thorough.

Diamond Valley Lake- Located near Temecular, nobody knows about this place yet. It's just a baby, really. But a big baby. It's bigger than all the lakes in SoCal COMBINED. Yes, that's right. Combined. The only trouble is that there's no campsites there right now, since it's so new. But the fishing's great, I hear. File it away for future reference, though. In a few years, this could be really great.

Lake Perris- Camping here, and you can swim and ride PWC's. But this place is HOT in the summer, and rather dirty, too.

Lopez Lake- A little further, between San Luis Obispo and Santa Maria, 10 miles from Arroyo Grande in San Luis Obispo County. This is about 3-4 hours, but it's considered SLO County's best lake. Being close to Pismo, you can go to the beach for a side trip.

OK, the next ones are much further, but worth it IMHO:

Lake Mojave- The reason I like Lake Mojave is its proximity to Laughlin. This is a great place to have fun with the water toys. There is a campground at Katerine's Landing, and if you don't have a boat or PWC, you can rent one. Can be VERY hot in the summer, it's excellent in the spring and early fall. I would not tent camp here in summer, you'll burn up, since it does not cool off. The casinos of Laughlin are about 10 minutes from Katherine's Landing, so you can head into town for a buffet or some gambling. They also rent houseboats here, which are REALLY fun, if you are so inclined. Find your own secluded beach and spend the day there. A couple of summers ago, I rented a PWC and skimmed 10 miles or so up the lake, just for fun. It was incredible.

Lake Tahoe- I just took our RV up there this summer. The vistas are unbelievable. From the top of Heavenly Valley gondola, the 23-mile long Lake dominates, the vista. A great place to cool off in the summer. The lake water is cold year-round, however. I went swimming in it a few years ago in July... the top 5 feet were warm enough, but below that, the water got very cold very quickly... about 45 degrees or so. Great fishing, and the town has anything you need. We camped at DL Bliss State Park, but Emerald Bay State Park is also very nice. There are also other campgrounds on the south shore.

Hope this helps,

have fun!

Answer
Hi Rob,

I left Isabella off, but I don't have very fond memories of it: HOT in the summer, and CROWDED. Everyone from the southern San Joaquin Valley goes there. (Like Pismo Beach on the 4th of July... not the place you want to be if you dislike crowds). I guess I didn't like the fact that there are really any trees there to speak of... a few oaks perhaps. Plenty of camping and fishing, however. My thought is that if I'm going that far (from OC), I'd much rather go to the beach.