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Eldorado National Forest
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
3 reviews for Eldorado National Forest
Growing up in the El Dorado National Forest may have made me biased to the area but I'm compelled to tell you some of the marvelous areas within the forest.
As you travel up highway 50, through Placerville and Pollock Pines you will enter into the national forest land which surrounds the highway. From the Ice House turn off you can travel north up the mountain to several lakes which offer fishing, boating and camping. My particular favorite is Loon Lake which is at the top of the mountain and is only accessible in the summer. At this elevation the forest changes, the trees are shorter and the vegitation more sparce than below at the lower lakes. It is a peaceful lake that offers great views of the surrounding mountains.
If you choose to continue north up highway 50 there are several other areas which offer great hiking trails, Strawberry and Kyburz to name a couple of areas. The American River runs through these areas and there are great trails along the river and some quiet swimming holes tucked here and there.
If you continue towards Echo Summit you'll reach the turnoff to Wright's Lake. Wrights Lake is a great summer lake which offers level camping spots and wonderful canoeing into the wetlands to the east of the lake.
From Wright's Lake you may obtain a permit to hike into the Desolation Wilderness area which is spectacular in it's own right. Desolation is truly for the experienced hiker and backpacker, it's easy to get lost and the weather changes are dramatic so use caution.
All over the national forest you can hike, mountain bike and horse-back ride on the logging roads and various trails. Many of them are not well marked and it can be easy to become turned around. Your best bet is to get a USGS Quad map of the area and to stop by the ranger station in Camino Heights to get maps of the area.
There is usually water located somewhere along the trail, even in the summer, but be prepared and carry your own. The summers are long and hot up here but in the higher elevations the night temperatures can become deadly and a storm can move in within minutes.
This is a great forest for a day trip, weekend camping with the family or week long backpacking adventure. So come and enjoy but please, if you pack-it-in, pack-it-out and keep this forest clean!
Great for camping!!
Sometimes I get stuck in a little foggy bubble of city-living, that I forget how varied and absolutely gorgeous the rest of the California landscape is...
We found a small remote camping area, near a babbling brook and gorgeous waterfall, surrounded by lots and lots of trees.
During late spring and the rest of the summer, it gets hot & sunny during the day and gets cool/cold at night. It's about 2.5 hrs east of San Francisco.
(There's absolutely no cell phone reception where we were at, though, so be forewarned.)
Indeed a beautiful place to camp! Fresh air, tall pine trees, refreshing clean waters ...it is gorgeous scene. But prepare to be truly roughing it!! We stayed at Sunset-Union, a lovely spot near the beach of the reservoir.
It could be that this camp is low budget, but there were no bathroom facilities near our camp. They just had his/her outhouses--AKA a hole in the ground with a toilet seat. The smell is unbearable and hardly clean. They have several water faucets around the camp, but we are not allowed to wash our hands, wash dishes or do anything except pitch water in your pail and take it back to your site!
At your site, there are no bear boxes! So each night we had to clear out everything back into our cars. With a party of 9, we had a lot of food and supplies. It was a hassle having to hide everything each time and the next day not knowing whose car we put whatever supplies.
I know, it's camping... but we like camps with some amenities like bear boxes or flushing toilets! Perhaps it's the fact that this was a National Park and the system is different from the State Park system. But the previous years of camping at State Parks we have been spoiled with their amenities. Services like bear boxes and nice bathrooms with sinks you can use and real toilets that flush and don't reek of who knows what!
Anyway, despite those things... we enjoyed our time. The Eldorado Forest is beautiful none the less.
