Anyone want to share the previous experience with Lake Oroville?
It's a big lake, are the ski/wakeboard areas crowded?
Are there great on-the-water picnic areas in no wake zones?
Is it a family-friendly boating/camping area or is it a punks gone wild
lake?
Is there plenty of ramp-close parking for trucks and trailers?
Which ramps have fuel nearby?

What's your favorite launch area and why?
What's your favorite on the water picnic area?

Have I missed anything? Maybe a comment about what you don't like about
Lake Oroville?

Oh, yeah, thanks!

"Bryan" wrote in message
...
Anyone want to share the previous experience with Lake Oroville?
It's a big lake, are the ski/wakeboard areas crowded?
Are there great on-the-water picnic areas in no wake zones?
Is it a family-friendly boating/camping area or is it a punks gone wild
lake?
Is there plenty of ramp-close parking for trucks and trailers?
Which ramps have fuel nearby?

What's your favorite launch area and why?
What's your favorite on the water picnic area?

Have I missed anything? Maybe a comment about what you don't like about
Lake Oroville?

Oh, yeah, thanks!

We like the lake a lot. Lots of launch ramps. If there for just a day, the
spillway ramp at the dam is great. If camping, Loafer Creek, is our
preferred place. Has a ramp. Always room to ski and tube. Is a very large
lake. Fuel at Lime Saddle and Bidwell Marina. We just fill in town. Is
about 6 miles from the lake and I can go about 2.5 days on a fill (67
gallons). There are 5 mph areas, and no ski areas. Up the Middle Fork is
the nicest area for swimming and picnics. Is a long narrow, rock lined, no
ski channel and then a 5 mph area. Feather Falls is visable at the upper
end if the water level is high enough to go all the way to the end.
Otherwise is a short hike. Probably still OK to get far enough up at maybe
30' down. You can also rent floating campsites. Is an anchored platform
with potty, and an upper deck, if you want to pitch a tent up there. Only
thing we do not like is the heat in July, can be 90 at 11 pm in the
campground. Sept, is fantastic. If no room at the lake for camping,
there are reasonable motels in town and River Reflections RV park is nice
and right on the river as ou come into town. Also has tent camping.

In article ,
Bryan wrote:
:Anyone want to share the previous experience with Lake Oroville?
:It's a big lake, are the ski/wakeboard areas crowded?
:Are there great on-the-water picnic areas in no wake zones?
:Is it a family-friendly boating/camping area or is it a punks gone wild
:lake?
:Is there plenty of ramp-close parking for trucks and trailers?
:Which ramps have fuel nearby?
:
:What's your favorite launch area and why?
:What's your favorite on the water picnic area?
:
:Have I missed anything? Maybe a comment about what you don't like about
:Lake Oroville?
:
:Oh, yeah, thanks!

I'll second what Bill said. Very nice lake, just very warm in the
summer months. There are plenty of areas for ski/wakeboarding off the
main lake and I've never seen them what I would call crowded. Tons of
great on-the-water picnic areas in the no wake zones...lots of little
coves and inlets shaded by trees on the fairly steep banks.

Bob wrote:
In article ,
Bryan wrote:
:Anyone want to share the previous experience with Lake Oroville?
:It's a big lake, are the ski/wakeboard areas crowded?
:Are there great on-the-water picnic areas in no wake zones?
:Is it a family-friendly boating/camping area or is it a punks gone wild
:lake?
:Is there plenty of ramp-close parking for trucks and trailers?
:Which ramps have fuel nearby?
:
:What's your favorite launch area and why?
:What's your favorite on the water picnic area?
:
:Have I missed anything? Maybe a comment about what you don't like about
:Lake Oroville?
:
:Oh, yeah, thanks!

I'll second what Bill said. Very nice lake, just very warm in the
summer months. There are plenty of areas for ski/wakeboarding off the
main lake and I've never seen them what I would call crowded. Tons of
great on-the-water picnic areas in the no wake zones...lots of little
coves and inlets shaded by trees on the fairly steep banks.

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

We like the lake a lot. Lots of launch ramps. If there for just a day,
the spillway ramp at the dam is great. If camping, Loafer Creek, is our
preferred place. Has a ramp. Always room to ski and tube. Is a very
large lake. Fuel at Lime Saddle and Bidwell Marina. We just fill in
town. Is about 6 miles from the lake and I can go about 2.5 days on a
fill (67 gallons). There are 5 mph areas, and no ski areas. Up the
Middle Fork is the nicest area for swimming and picnics. Is a long
narrow, rock lined, no ski channel and then a 5 mph area. Feather Falls
is visable at the upper end if the water level is high enough to go all
the way to the end. Otherwise is a short hike. Probably still OK to get
far enough up at maybe 30' down. You can also rent floating campsites.
Is an anchored platform with potty, and an upper deck, if you want to
pitch a tent up there. Only thing we do not like is the heat in July, can
be 90 at 11 pm in the campground. Sept, is fantastic. If no room at
the lake for camping, there are reasonable motels in town and River
Reflections RV park is nice and right on the river as ou come into town.
Also has tent camping.


Bill,
Once again, thank you for your contributions. Great description loaded with
useful info! I've got to check it out; sounds like a September trip or even
an October trip. Is the water still warm in October?
Bryan

"Bob" wrote in message
...
In article ,
I'll second what Bill said. Very nice lake, just very warm in the
summer months. There are plenty of areas for ski/wakeboarding off the
main lake and I've never seen them what I would call crowded. Tons of
great on-the-water picnic areas in the no wake zones...lots of little
coves and inlets shaded by trees on the fairly steep banks.

Thanks Bob!

"Bryan" wrote in message
...

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

We like the lake a lot. Lots of launch ramps. If there for just a day,
the spillway ramp at the dam is great. If camping, Loafer Creek, is our
preferred place. Has a ramp. Always room to ski and tube. Is a very
large lake. Fuel at Lime Saddle and Bidwell Marina. We just fill in
town. Is about 6 miles from the lake and I can go about 2.5 days on a
fill (67 gallons). There are 5 mph areas, and no ski areas. Up the
Middle Fork is the nicest area for swimming and picnics. Is a long
narrow, rock lined, no ski channel and then a 5 mph area. Feather Falls
is visable at the upper end if the water level is high enough to go all
the way to the end. Otherwise is a short hike. Probably still OK to get
far enough up at maybe 30' down. You can also rent floating campsites.
Is an anchored platform with potty, and an upper deck, if you want to
pitch a tent up there. Only thing we do not like is the heat in July,
can be 90 at 11 pm in the campground. Sept, is fantastic. If no room
at the lake for camping, there are reasonable motels in town and River
Reflections RV park is nice and right on the river as ou come into town.
Also has tent camping.


Bill,
Once again, thank you for your contributions. Great description loaded
with useful info! I've got to check it out; sounds like a September trip
or even an October trip. Is the water still warm in October?
Bryan



Probably in the high 60's in October. 68-69. We have gone a couple of times
in early Oct, and had very enjoyable times. Where are you coming from?

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

"Bryan" wrote in message
...

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



Bill,
Once again, thank you for your contributions. Great description loaded
with useful info! I've got to check it out; sounds like a September trip
or even an October trip. Is the water still warm in October?
Bryan



Probably in the high 60's in October. 68-69. We have gone a couple of
times in early Oct, and had very enjoyable times. Where are you coming
from?

Santa Rosa.

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,

"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