Lake Mendocino is nice also. Use the North End campground. Lots of trees.
Early enough reservation, and you can camp near the waters edge and I think
you beach your boat.

"Bryan" wrote in message
m...

"Paul" wrote in message
ups.com...
Bryan-- I live in the SF North Bay area. My family just did a week at
Oroville camping at Loafer Creek park. If you're tent camping, this is
a great place to stay. Clean, well maintained and almost empty except
on weekends. There is a great swimming area with a grassy picnic area.
My only complaint was that the camp got a little rowdy over the weekend
(college kids, underage drinking but the rangers took care of it). I
usually avoid weekends.

Out on the water things were quiet and not crowded at all. If you stay
at Loafer creek theres a medium sized grocery store and gas station
only 10 minutes from the park entrance-- this is a good deal if you're
camping with little kids (trust me). There are no facilities here to
leave your boat in the water overnight and the campsites are about a
half mile from the ramp but it's a very easy tow and the campsites have
sufficient parking to keep your boat and tow vehicle without
difficulty. This was our third summer camping at Oroville and the water
levels and boating conditions were perfect when we were there.

I'd toss out another name for you that's not too far from Santa Rosa,
Lake Don Pedro just east of Modesto. We went there for the first time a
week ago and really enjoyed it. I didn't find much to do on shore but
there are many campsites right on the shoreline with good shallow water
swimming right at your camp. Many of us anchored our boats for the week
right at our campsites. There's a nice marina right at the campground.
The skiing and wakeboarding are great because the lake has tons of
large coves that you can have almost to yourself (at least during the
week.) The coves are protected so that even on windy days you have
nearly flat water. The other thing that was different from Oroville was
that the lake topography was much better suited for anchoring. Oroville
is surrounded by high cliffs and steeply banked shorelines while at Don
Pedro, the bottom slopes up gradually and we could easily anchor in 20
or 30 feet of water and swim to our hearts content. Just food for
thought.

Enjoy your summer,


Great information, Paul!

I know what you mean about the anchoring difference.
It's one of the first wake up calls when I got the boat. I'm used to
sailing and reading charts and finding good anchoring. I'm not used to
powerboating on lakes! I found a nice cove at Lake Sonoma and got close
to shore and tossed the anchor over. It sure took a long time to hit
bottom! And even with all that rode out we still dragged anchor. A bit
perplexing, then I realized Lake Sonoma is a canyon filled with water;
steep and deep to the edge.

Thank you,
Bryan

"Bill McKee" wrote in message
ink.net...
Lake Mendocino is nice also. Use the North End campground. Lots of
trees. Early enough reservation, and you can camp near the waters edge and
I think you beach your boat.

Hey Bill,

Lake Mendocino is on my list of lakes to try. It's close and I even know
the turn-off from boating with my friend in Lucerne at Clear Lake.

I keep passing by because I'm always on the way to my friends place. I've
just got to motivate to give it a try. My neighbor across the street
prefers Lake Mendocino to Lake Sonoma and Clear Lake.

I keep coming across folks who consider Lake Pillsbury their special place;
seems a little tough to get to, but I'll have to give it a try.

I know one thing for sure, the kids want warm water lakes and I want
uncrowded lakes (I guess that's 2 things).

Bryan
So many lakes, so little time! And only 20 years to retirement.

"Bryan" wrote in message
m...

"Bill McKee" wrote in message
ink.net...
Lake Mendocino is nice also. Use the North End campground. Lots of
trees. Early enough reservation, and you can camp near the waters edge
and I think you beach your boat.

Hey Bill,

Lake Mendocino is on my list of lakes to try. It's close and I even know
the turn-off from boating with my friend in Lucerne at Clear Lake.

I keep passing by because I'm always on the way to my friends place. I've
just got to motivate to give it a try. My neighbor across the street
prefers Lake Mendocino to Lake Sonoma and Clear Lake.

I keep coming across folks who consider Lake Pillsbury their special
place; seems a little tough to get to, but I'll have to give it a try.

I know one thing for sure, the kids want warm water lakes and I want
uncrowded lakes (I guess that's 2 things).

Bryan
So many lakes, so little time! And only 20 years to retirement.


Pillsbury is uncrowded, but that is because of a crappy dirt road part of
the way. We were at Mendo on the 7th of July and was not crowded. On way
back from Rogue River / Gold Beach. Getting Fuel at the Chevron Station at
the Southern road turnoff to the lake, the clerk said to go to the Calpella
turnoff as the north end campground is better. Very nice CG. If going to
Pillsbury look below the dam and see the salmon jumping up trying to go
further up river. No fishing in the Eel in this area. Was at Clear Lake to
see some old friends from jr / high school perform at Konocti Harbor and was
amazed had how clean it is anymore. Last there maybe 18 years ago, when I
sold my property at Soda Bay. If going to Ukiah eat at Jensen's truck stop.
Great food. Reasonable food. Been in business since 1952.

"Bill McKee" wrote in message
nk.net...

"Bryan" wrote in message
m...

"Bill McKee" wrote in message
ink.net...
Lake Mendocino is nice also. Use the North End campground. Lots of
trees. Early enough reservation, and you can camp near the waters edge
and I think you beach your boat.

Hey Bill,

Lake Mendocino is on my list of lakes to try. It's close and I even know
the turn-off from boating with my friend in Lucerne at Clear Lake.

I keep passing by because I'm always on the way to my friends place.
I've just got to motivate to give it a try. My neighbor across the
street prefers Lake Mendocino to Lake Sonoma and Clear Lake.

I keep coming across folks who consider Lake Pillsbury their special
place; seems a little tough to get to, but I'll have to give it a try.

I know one thing for sure, the kids want warm water lakes and I want
uncrowded lakes (I guess that's 2 things).

Bryan
So many lakes, so little time! And only 20 years to retirement.


Pillsbury is uncrowded, but that is because of a crappy dirt road part of
the way. We were at Mendo on the 7th of July and was not crowded. On way
back from Rogue River / Gold Beach. Getting Fuel at the Chevron Station
at the Southern road turnoff to the lake, the clerk said to go to the
Calpella turnoff as the north end campground is better. Very nice CG. If
going to Pillsbury look below the dam and see the salmon jumping up trying
to go further up river. No fishing in the Eel in this area. Was at Clear
Lake to see some old friends from jr / high school perform at Konocti
Harbor and was amazed had how clean it is anymore. Last there maybe 18
years ago, when I sold my property at Soda Bay. If going to Ukiah eat at
Jensen's truck stop. Great food. Reasonable food. Been in business since
1952.


I have to make the Pillsbury trip one day, but it's that dirt road that
stops me from trying. I just don't want to beat the crap out of my truck,
trailer, and boat. Maybe when my boat is older and has a few more blemishes
from a well-lived life.

Everytime I drive past the north end of Lake Mendocino on my way to Lucerne,
all is see is empty water. I might try it this weekend. When I do I'll
offer a report. Looking at the map there are several campgrounds around the
lake with a couple that could be considered at the northern end. I'll check
out Jensen's Truck Stop. We're looking for a new place to grab a bite on
our way home.