Lake Alpine

Thus once beautiful lake and ff campground is no longer a gem. We went saturday to visit and it was a madhouse. Dozens and dozens of cars parked on the roadside illegally over the shoulder lines, making it hard for 2 way traffic to get through, no Rangers doing traffic control and giving tickets. illegal parking on the side dirt roads that clearly say private property no parking. In the 15+ years we've camped here plus day use, I've never seen it this bad, even on July 4th and memorial day.Now a charge of $5 for day use parking and rsvp only for camping

Such a beautiful place to relax and have some fun with the family and friends. Came here for the day had so much fun. Every day use picnic area has grill and picnic tables. Make sure you bring a lot of bug spray lol

Little windy, not a very warm surrounding, low 70's in mid summer. Clean, good vibe and a very pretty surrounding.

While not as grand as some of the high country lakes in California, Lake Alpine gets props for being scenic enough and within reasonable driving distance from civilization. Going up Highway 4, one could easily stop in Murphy's for lunch, stop at Calaveras Big Trees to behold the giant sequoias and then travel another 30 minutes up the pass to the lake. It's located across from Lake Alpine resort and a few miles east of Bear Valley, so it's a popular summer area for beach goers. I arrived around 3:30 on a Sunday so the parking lots were clearing out and the crowds were dispersing. There is a $5 day use fee, cash or Venmo but it's in the honor system. For my visit, I was there for a hike around the lake. I got more than my moneys worth as the hike featured, not only lake views, but some quieter back country-esque trails that meandered along a creek, plus some late season wildflowers. You can do a full loop around the lake but there is a section about 1/2 mile in to the trail (if you're going counter clockwise away from the parking areas) that detours a bit around private property. We almost lost the trail at one point and then picked up a sign that took us on a short portion of Slick Back road and back to Lakeshore loop trail. For about half of it, you're not within site of the lake but it's pretty well signed. You'll eventually get closer to the shore on a single track dirt trail and enjoy both lake and forest views. It ended up being 4.25 miles and a fairly easy to moderate hike. Lots of mosquitoes and we even encountered a late afternoon summer rain. There was also lots of solitude. Everyone was centered on the easy to access shoreline near the road, and not a single soul on the loop trail. It's a popular area but peace to be had if you venture out for a hike. Definitely a fun hike and would go again!

I'm happy to see that Lake Alpine has a listing on Yelp. As a kid growing up in the Central Valley, we went here every year. Camped at Big Meadow, then made the 10-mile drive up to 8,000 feet with the fishing poles and inflatable boats and spent the afternoon here. But Yelp doesn't want me to write about how it was in the last millennium, but how it is now, so there you go.How is it now? BUSY. There are three campgrounds on or near the lake, two within one mile, and Big Meadow is a further drive. As of 2020, all but Big Meadow charge $30/night, high for a Forest Service campground. But they all tend to fill up every summer weekend, and stay near full the rest of the week too. Maybe they know something that you don't?Well, they know that here's a stereotypical mountain lake. It's a hundred year old reservoir that some people have been known to swim across. You can rent boats across the "highway" (a 1-1/2 lane road) or bring your own. Several large granite rocks were submerged by the water but not completely, so you can get out there and have more fun. Lots of kids jumping into the water from these islands. Dog friendly. At one place, the lake lapped up against Highway 4, but they've built a bike path along the shoreline, so there's now separation between lake and road all the distance.So it's sometimes quite hard to find a parking place, though not as hard as Pinecrest. There are many day use parking lots, and they get full too. You can park on the side of the road if you can find a spot, but these can be hard to find too. So if you stick to the north shore, you will have a lot of company. The east and west shores are more inconvenient, but you'll have many people here too. Finding solitude means hiking for at least a mile on the south shore, or boating across.WARNING: At one time you could hike around Lake Alpine. I was shocked to find out that there is now a private resort near the dam. And the jeep trail had to be rerouted around the ranch and the Lakeshore Trail dead-ends into it. I hope that someday the Forest Service is able to negotiate an easement for hikers along the shore of this resort.So: if you want a popular mountain retreat, Lake Alpine could work if you can find a place to stay overnight. If you want peace and quiet, do NOT come to Lake Alpine! If you're on a budget, stay somewhere else and commute in.

We visited lake alpine during our visit to Arnold, about a 30 minute drive. We went in October on a Saturday morning around 10am. We were able to find a parking spot easily and find a sandy area near the lake to sit. The lake is beautiful surround by trees and large rocky areas. After being there for a while things started to go downhill. My four year old found 3 pieces of broken glass in the sand. Luckily no one stepped on any and got hurt. There was also a lot of old fishing line left around with rusty hooks attached. Really sad as this lake is beautiful and could be a nice place to hang out with the family, however due to the high amount of dangerous garbage left around it was not a very pleasant visit. Be careful!

The place to go for a nice detachment from the Bay Area! The main campsite has a set of porterhouses. If you're doing any individual camping away from the main site make sure you have bear canisters for food. Lighting has also been known to strike here so make sure you are wilderness trained!We went with a group of medical students (including leaders who had been trained through the Stanford Arrillaga Outdoor Education and Recreation Center (Farrillaga) Wilderness training program: http://rec.stanford.edu/adventure. Try to bring layered clothing as the weather is not necessarily representative of california- you'd be hard pressed to find a campsite that's perfect weather! We had hail when we were there in August! Most of all don't forget to bring bug spray!

If I could stay in any campsite in the West Shore campground I would probably pick #12 or #14 because they have the best views of the lake with few drawbacks. They both are spacious, with #12 sitting further from the loop road and closer to the path around the lake, while #14 hugs the road a bit but seems further from neighbors. If I was going with friends I would try to book #11 and #12, in which case I think that would be my first pick ahead of #14. (Oddly, the parking spot for #12 is practically in site #11, which is more of a drawback for folks in #11 but not ideal for either site.) #13 is also nice but on the opposite side of the loop road from the lake and a little more exposed. I recently stayed in site #9 and would stay there again as it was big and had obstructed views of the water, but would try to get a progressively higher number site (up to #14) if possible. #15 - #17 are similar to #9 but seemed less appealing to me for some reason. #9 is very close to the toilets which is usually a big drawback for me, but they were unlit and not a disturbance, arguably a convenience for some. Sites #6-#8 are good sized a pretty private, but further from the lake. Sites #18-#23 are a bit crammed together, close to the road and further from the lake, so I'd avoid them if possible. Overall I really enjoyed this campground and I love Lake Alpine more generally. It's a relatively small lake and can get very crowded on summer weekends, but weekdays you can have a cove all to yourself.

Man, there may not be many better places on the planet than Lake Alpine. The perfect mix of a beautiful lake, a great trail that circles it and a great place across the street to eat and drink when you're through enjoying the lake. OK, I know I'm not the ultimate "Adventure Man" but there's good kayaking here, a 4 mile hike around the lake,, ( with an optional 2 mile straight up 600 ft climb) to Inspiration point), several mountain bike trails and yes and bar and restaurant to boot. Let's be honest it really doesn't get much better than that. Did I mention it's a gorgeous place!! So, it may not be the easiest place to get to ( especially if you live in SoCal) but hey, it's worth the trek up into the mountains, you just don't find this kinda scenery anywhere in SoCal. There a kinda lodge there but also tons of places to stay 2 miles down hill in the awesome little village of Bear Valley!!

I've been camping at Lake Alpine Westshore ever since I was a little girl. I now take my family and my kids absolutely love it and look forward to our yearly camping trip here! The bathrooms I will say do smell like a terrible ammonia smell- I wish they would change that somehow. Other than that--- the most beautiful peaceful lake!!!!!!I will say- during the weekends do get a little crazy with people who come up just for the day. We avoid this by camping here Sunday-Friday to avoid that weekend crowd.If you have little ones- avoid the campsites on the outside of the loop. In the past few years, we've stayed at site 13,15,16,17- no complaints about any of them.