lake kaweah

And water too! This seems to be an underutilized area. It's sad to see how much the lake level has dropped. No real services here. We just stopped to admire the sunset. You would imagine that there would be some entrepreneurs with waterspouts on hand for the dusty tourists heading up to Sequoia, but no. Lots of campers, and they seem happy. Well, they're on vacation, aren't they?

We stopped off for a short time to take a few photos and enjoy the landscape. There were a few people playing in the water and on the rocks, but very few cars and no people in the lot. There was no ranger in sight, nor was it obvious where one should go to pay a fee. As we planned to stop off for only 15 minutes or so, enough time to take a few photos, we thought we would be fine. We stepped maybe 25 feet away from our car and were photographing, when we looked over and, out of nowhere, a ranger just apparated from thin air and went about ticketing vehicles. I still have no idea where he came from, but we walked over and explained our situation. He was unsympathetic and certainly not Minnesota Nice, so we returned to our car, got the $4 fee, paid, and left. It was a very pretty area, so much different than the Land of 10,000 Lakes, but also weird at the same time. Enjoy it, but be sure to pay!

We stopped briefly, intrigued by the dart dam visible from the highway.It is a pretty spot with quaint houseboats clustered in a kind of floating suburbia.

Lake Kaweah is a shimmering jewel in Lemon Cove, CA created by the Corps of Engineers in what appears to be a very dry area of brown hillsides and scrub. It's a gr8 respite from the summer heat for day use or waterfront camping by night. It also offer the "Slick Rock" day use area with a field of boulders in the water to climb-up and slide off. (this will wear the kids out!) Located only 15 miles from the Sequoia Natl Park via Hwy 198 it's also a reasonable alternative to the often-full campgrounds in the park. There is a boat launch area, and the marina has pontoon boats for rent and bait for fishing. I assume Horse Creek campground fills-up on the weekends, especially the level sites for RV's as most were already reserved when I was there on a Thurs. Many camp sites are VERY uneven, so if you are in an RV, you'll have to level it. For large rigs, note that there is a steep downhill turn immediately at the campground entry off Hwy 198. The lake is large and parts of the campground were still flooded in early June from Spring snow-melt, although they say the lake is kept very low most of the year to allow for water collection. Just a few miles east in Three Rivers is an amazing little "Village" market with fresh-cut meats, nice produce and many seasonal items. It is next to the post office and the Mexican & Pizza restaurants.

This was just down the street from where we were staying in Three Rivers.The water is warm. There is lots of space to share with the other visitors and spots to get away from them.The current can be brisk at places. However, the river is pretty shallow and rocky. So if you're a non-swimmer like myself, it's not too bad. The valley act as a funnel for a cool breeze to come through. The hike down from the parking lot isn't too bad unless you've got a lot to carry.Pay the park fees ($4) cuz they will ticket! And this is way cheap compared to the other nearby water spots.