clear lake

So, you may have heard that this was the lake that Rachel Carson wrote about in her famous book, "Silent Spring", one of the early books in the environmentalist movement. Back in the 1980's, I interviewed a gentleman who was born around here in the earliest part of the century. We sat in a small house on the edge of the small city of Clearlake, named after guess what, and he was full of stories about the way the hunting used to be in nearby Anderson Marsh. He would haul water from a bucket to drink, he said. Although those days are gone, the fishing is still very popular here, especially bass, and there are loads of places to access the water without having to pay fees of any kind. I spent most of my time in Lakeport and Clearlake, where access to the lake is part of the shoreline and the cities maintain large, well-manicured parks with picnic and restroom facilities. You can be eating all the diner food you want one day and sip world-class wines the next. Nearby Napa vintners have been working their vineyard magic here but so far the county has been spared the attendant winery monstrosities that are just corporate monuments. Be on the lookout for old wineries, as well, including the Langtry Estates -- Lillian Langtry was a renowned beauty in her day, becoming a fashion leader, actress, and producer. Being in the mountains, Clear Lake and its environs continue to attract the out-of-the-mainstream types--all the way from meth heads to insular communities of spiritual practitioners and free-spirit-wannabes. While drug-related crimes are reportedly on the rise, simple steps any traveler should take are enough prevention--locking your car etc. That being said, I never locked the front door to my cabin up in the mountain areas, and have never had to regret it. The pace is extremely casual, the air continues to be recognized as the best in the state, and graceful old walnut and pear orchards can still be found around the lake. Kids collect "Lake County diamonds", a type of clear local quartz, or pieces of "rock glass" (obsidian) lying around on the hillsides, keeping an eye out for the ant lions--curious ant-eating insects barely larger than the ants they eat that build sandy funnels to trap their prey. A friend of mine vacations here often, to be out on the water and fish in peace.

Clear Lake has become a murky body of water...people do swim in it but I certainly wouldn't. Boating is popular and I do see some people fish. The real problem with the lake are the communities that surround it. The shoreline is littered with decaying boat piers and docks. Many of the homes (especially in the city of Clearlake) are not kept up and some are downright dumps. The city of Clearlake has a high crime rate, many residents are registered sex offenders, and meth is quite popular. The city of Lakeport is not as bad, but it is still old and a little decayed with lots of what I call "heavily tattooed people."

Clear Lake is a large lake which is about a 60-90 minute drive north of Napa Valley. It is a scenic lake. It is most popular in the summer when there are water sports.The area is definitely laid back with small family restaurants and bars.It is NOT a trendy lake, but one where you can go and feel "back in times" when life was a bit slower, peaceful and relaxing.One can also go bass fishing there.We usually just go and enjoy lunch and visiting different areas around the lake when we go to Clear Lake.

There are so many places that you can go to like Napa, Austin, Tahoe and others where "it used to be so cool." You know, before everybody knew about it. Consider the Clear Lake area to be that today. Clear Lake and its surrounds offer an authentic, rural travel experience. There are farm stands that real farmers operate. You can go out on a lake where the wildlife is really real and where not every edge of shoreline has been manufactured somewhere. There is hiking, museums, bike riding and lots of other outdoors activities. If wine's your thing the wineries also follow the authentic feel where, more often than not, you're actually meeting with the wine maker because the winery's not become a tourist trap just yet. You know - it's a place created by someone who both really knows and really loves wines and is proud to pour you a few tastes of things they've been involved with since the grape stage. Oh, and forget making reservations just to taste wine - nobody around Clear Lake takes reservations to taste wine, that's just not the neighborly thing to do. What you won't find are a lot of chain stores, chain restaurants, chain hotels or other blights that make so many vacations spots look and feel like so many other vacation spots. If you got dropped in Napa or Austin or so many other places how long would it take you to sort through the chain stores and figure out where the real vacation "finds" are? Because it's still a mostly undiscovered area the air is the cleanest in California. A lady bought an old fire house and made a lunch box museum out of it. There's a 1950s miniature golf course that's been fully restored but still has that old-fashioned feel. Heck, there's even a Foster's Freeze. Okay, that's a chain but it's an oldie. If Disneyland's picture of Main Steet, USA is your thing, then Clear Lake may not be. But if you have watched a lot of the Andy Griffith Show where people and places are authentic rural Americana, then you'd better get there quickly before it becomes "discovered" and there's a Starbucks on every corner. Yeah, in rural America people spend more time visiting with one another than making sure every inch of their place is painted a designer color but they'll treat you like friends even though they haven't had the pleasure of meeting you just yet.

I understand that Clearlake is not a destination vacation spot. But, my goodness clean the place up. This could be a beautiful area and lake if maintained. It appears that California's welfare population must flock to this area for refuge.

Although my family and I had a great time at Clearlake, you have to be aware that the algae in the lake is going to impact your trip in some way. We stayed a week and had almost no algae to deal with the first few days, then the wind stopped and the green algae floated into our dock area and the surrounding lake areas near our house. We had a good time, but I doubt that my family or the other family we vacationed with will return.

They got a town directly located at a nice lake, with lot's of lake front. And what did they do with it. Nothing, zero. No place to linger at the water front, or to rest and nice trees with some lush green. Nothing. What a waste.

There were homeless people fighting and asking for money... a local even hit a homeless man with his car and sped off. I felt uncomfortable after that and cut my visit short.

If you enjoy a beautiful, tranquil weekend away, come to Lake County. Just a few hours from the San Francisco Bay Area are a host of friendly small towns. There are plenty of wineries, excellent fishing and lots of places to just relax and enjoy the scenery. There's NO traffic, no long lines and no hassles...

Located in the beautiful Guenoc Valley in Lake County, Langtry Estates offers not only wonderful wines but also a beautiful place to have a picnic, hold a wedding, or wine taste. We recently had our company picnic at this location and it was a wonderful relaxing time for all. We all loved the views, wildlife, and enjoyed ourselves immensely!

Last month I had the opportunity to spend the day on Clear Lake, mostly fishing, but enjoying the views and swimming from a boat on the largest lake in CA and the oldest in North America. Sure, a couple of places had algae and weeds and where the algae blooms were the largest, it smelled. We moved on--it's huge--nearly 70 square miles! That said, hardly any large lake is smell- or weed-free. I looked up the history of this lake and saw that certain times of the year algae blooms that smells in some parts of the lake, even in 1859. Bottom line is that game fish--especially bass and trout which I could see below the surface--thrive beautifully and are in abundance. I can't buy into the naysayers. Clear Lake is a an amazing ecosystem, incredibly safe to swim in. If you're looking for pristine, stay in your bathtub.

We drove through Clearlake and Lucerne to get to the town of Nice where we stayed this past weekend to visit family. Don't bother fishing in the Lake because it is green and is filled with algae. There are a few casinos nearby that has really great deals on their buffets (all you can eat seafood for $19.95).

Clearlake was a great destination but an algae a few years ago has made the lake green, scummy and you sure don't go in it. Sad.

We drove up here to look at it as a possible retirement home area, NOT!!!! I am sure there are some very beautiful places on the lake but, the communities of Clearlake, Clearlake Oaks, Lucerne, and Nice are full of what appears to be derelicts and druggies, total tweekerville. We will not be considering this area at all. It looks like most of the building happened prior to any building codes being in place, I am surprised that so many people have so little pride in their homes. We are not nose in the air snobs but we do want a safe, clean community that we would be proud to have someone come to visit. This place is a total FAIL!!!!!!!

The lake is beautiful. Great views from where we were staying but the actual lake it gross... So much algae!! Very disappointed that we could not swim! And there are lots of weird people!!