Lower Bear Reservoir

This past Monday I decided to head up to Lower Bear Reservoir with my girlfriend Jazmine this place has been somewhat of a hidden gem the past few years. This reservoir is about 3 hours away from San Jose and the drive essentially goes through central CA. I believe this reservoir is in the Stanislaus National Forest since I saw a few signs along the way. My favorite part of the drive is the small towns that are along the way it pass through some strange places like Volcano, CA which has a population of 103. The coolest towns are Jackson and Sutter Creek these are stuck in time the buildings are old and western style. The people in each of the towns were very nice and the shops are unique. Jazmine and I tend to stop at the antique shops since I like to look for old film cameras and she like to shop for unique furniture. The best part about reaching these town is that the reservoir is only an hour away so it’s the perfect place to do last minute grocery shopping and to grab a bite to eat. The remainder of the drive is through the forest which is beautiful. We discovered this place through a friend Jazmine has that lives in Pioneer she takes her dog swimming here and one summer we actually came down to visit her and she brought us down, since then we loved it. Since we came on a Monday it was the perfect place to social distance since there little people.

This place is crazy! one side there is the reservoir and on the other wild terrain that stretches far past the horizon. Also this park is divided in a interesting way on one side there is a resort and on the other is the state park its $8 for a day ticket and the park accepts ATM Card or cash. There is also the option to camp here I would strongly check the camp ground prior to booking a site. We stayed here once there was a massive infestation of “meat bees” AKA wasps we ended up getting stung a few times and these little bits hurt. The camping trip was a bit of a nightmare since we had to stay in the tent when we were at the campsite to avoid getting bit and eating was awful. The most peaceful time was at night once the wasps left and we were able to enjoy the clear night sky.

Lower bear is a great place to come in the summer the temps get really high I recommend bring a lot of water and sun protection. When we came this year it was in the high 80s and the last time we came it was in the high 90s the water is fresh and a lot warmer than the ocean so it makes the experience a lot of fun. When Jazmine and I come we like to float out and enjoy the lake its super peaceful. Since the lake is massive there is a lot of places to explore we stayed around the parking lot area since it was pretty much empty. We saw people that pulled off to the side to of road and found their own little paradise by hiking down to the lake. My biggest advice is to come prepared there is no grocery stories or mini marts near by it can up to 30-45 minutes to drive up to the closest store. The lake is very clean and well kept its like a mini hidden Lake Tahoe minus the people and constructions around the lake. This area is pretty wild which makes it all the worth driving too.