Visited on 2/17/2018 - 2/18/2018 Jeff and I took advantage of the unusually warm weather we had during the three day holiday weekend to take in the beauty of some lakes in the Mother Lode Gold Country of the Sierra Mountain foothills area. We loaded up the truck camper for a long weekend of camping and on our first night we traveled to Lake Camanche and checked out the north shore campgrounds and then drove around the lake to the south shore of the lake where we found a great secluded camping spot right on the lake. Camanche Reservoir is an 7,700 surface acre artificial lake at a elevation of 235 feet in the San Joaquin Valley at the juncture of Amador, Calaveras, and San Joaquin counties. It's waters are impounded by Camanche Dam, which was completed in 1963. Camanche Reservoir is a source of water for industrial and municipal purposes and also provides flood control. The lake was named after the former town of Camanche that now lies beneath its waters. The lake has also been called Camanche Lake and Lake Camanche. Camanche Reservoir has some the best recreation areas of any lake we have visited in California. Facilities are located on the North and South shores of the lake. Camanche Reservoir North Shore is located in Amador County. The North Shore hosts some of the recreation features of Camanche Reservoir, including close to 800 campsites. The North Shore also allows RV camping as well as tent camping. There is a North Shore Marina Store located here including a small café. Camanche Reservoir South Shore also hosts a large portion of Lake Camanche’s recreation features and amenities. The South Shore includes a store located in the middle of the recreation area. It also contains the amphitheater where numerous events are held.
The lake is fed by the headwaters of the Mokelumne River, including tributaries such as Rabbit Creek and Camanche Creek. The Camanche Reservoir is fed primarily from the Mokelumne River. The water entering Camanche Reservoir is influenced by the amount of water released from the Pardee Dam. Camanche reservoir typically fills to capacity prior to summer months. This occurs from the melting of snowpack during the months of May–July (meltflow season) which increase the amount of water flowing through the Mokelumne River. During summer months, Camanche Reservoir releases water continuously. This allows for constant reliable downstream irrigation.
The communities of Camanche, Lancha Plana, and Poverty Bar were inundated by the creation of this reservoir. The region was originally settled during the gold rush into three separate towns. As the gold rush slowed, these towns began to decrease in population. Settlers from Iowa named the largest remaining town “Camanche” after a town in Iowa. Camanche remained a small town, and was eventually evacuated by the East Bay Municipal Utility District to build the dam and reservoir that exists there today.
This was the colorful sunset from our campsite on the southeast corner of the lake. Absolutely beautiful and the moon is in the upper left corner of the picture.
During the day Jeff and I enjoyed a great hike around the campgrounds over to the boat launch area of the South Shore of the Lake. We met a few other campers and watched folks return from a day of fishing and kayaking on the lake.
We found a great secluded campsite in the southeast corner of the recreation area called the Riverview Campground, site #46.
Jeff and I enjoyed a nice campfire with a gorgeous sunset from our campsite on the lake.
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