Sugar Pine Res

[craig333]

One of my former coworkers from our old company has been bugging me to go camping for some time. I kept telling him "set a date". He finally did and we headed up to Sugar Pine Reservoir. Its the water supply for Foresthill so it hasn't been drawn down. Very pretty with trees right down to the water line. I could have gotten some nice wildlife shots but as I went to shoot my camera informs me it has no SD card. Whoops. So just a few cell phone pics.

We stayed at Shirttail Campground. Its just been opened. Not even noted online yet. A bit pricey at $24 a day but its a nice modern campground. All the deadfall has been cut up and we had more wood for a campfire than we could possibly burn.

The dogs had a great time running around. As the campground was nearly unoccupied we were able to leave the dog off leash most of the time.

Its a great place for anyone with mobility issues. There is a paved path around the lake. Chromite mines nearby date back to WWI and I attempted to locate one unsuccessfully. Bear boxes were provided but I didn't see any sign of bears in the area.

Ten mph speed limit had me wishing I'd brought the kayak. Riley didn't mine that the water is a bit on the cool side. Not sure how this is my first time to this spot as its not a long drive from Sacramento.

 

[Smokecreek1]

And fun was had by all !

Smoke

 

[Wu Wei]

It looks like a nice area and a good spot for the dogs. It is nice to have options that are a short drive from home. I wonder how crazy that place gets in the summer?

 

[Vic]

great report - I'm always looking for good family CG's with access to water for the kayaks - this one will definitely be added to the list. Thanks for the tip.

 

[craig333]

I'd bet its full most of the summer.

 

[Lighthawk]

Great that you got out there, Craig. Always wondered about SPR. I think there's lots of OHV and mountain bike trails around there.
Bears are active at 3500'. We have had three incidents with bear within half a mile of home in the last three days. They be hungry!

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Looks like a nice trip, albeit expensive camping if that's a Federal CG. Thanks for sharing!

Oh, SD cards (or any other type). Don't leave home without one (and a spare or two). ;-)

 

[Ted]

Nice little getaway Craig. We did a day trip to Sugar Pine last year. Some other nearby lakes that we have taken the kayaks to are Burnside, Indian Creek, Scotts Lake (off of 88), and Long Valley reservoir. Burnside and Scotts are boondock camping, Long Valley has a PG&E campground, and Indian creek has a campground and some boondocking by the dam. Of course, if you want real close you can go to Rancho Seco lake. The county runs a campground there. Probably less than 30 minutes for you.

A little further for us but maybe of interst to Vic are Silver Lake and Crater Lake in Lassen National Forest and Butte Lake and Juniper Lake in Lassen National Park. All have campgrounds. Juniper Lake's is small and fills up often but we have been able to get spots there.

 

[craig333]

Maybe the bears just didn't realize the campground was open yet. Theres a third camground nearby but it was still closed. Pretty popular OHV area for motorcycles. Don't know about mountain bikes. I definitely should have a spare SD card in the camera bag. No cell service for my ATT phone and yes, they are Forest Service campgrounds. Looks like they're going to manage them without a third party this year. I'd heard the FS was going back to managing campgrounds themselves.

 

[Vic]

Great tips Ted - thx. Oddly enough after all of these years I've never made it to Juniper Lake, but it is on the list for this year