Lopez Lake - San Luis Obispo County, California

Visited on 4/15/2018 while traveling to the Central Coast of California for a work assignment, Jeff and dogs joined me for a weekend of beachfront camping at Avila Beach.  We took a drive up to this nice lake at an elevation of 560 feet above sea level, Lopez Lake is a 950 acre reservoir near the city of Arroyo Grande in San Luis Obispo County, California. The lake is formed by Lopez Dam on Arroyo Grande Creek, 9 miles upstream from the Pacific Ocean. The creek drains about 60 square miles above the dam and 90 square miles below. The dam was built in 1969 and is operated by the San Luis Obispo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District. The earth-fill dam was retrofitted to protect against earthquakes between 2001 and 2003.

Lopez Lake provides drinking water for Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach, Pismo Beach, Oceano and Avila Beach. It also provides groundwater recharge, water for irrigation and flood control. Unlike most municipal water supplies, human contact with the water is permitted. Sailing, wind surfing, water skiing, swimming, fishing and camping are popular activities. There is also a waterslide next to the lake. To prevent contamination of the drinking water, water from the lake is piped 3 miles to a terminal reservoir, where it remains to allow particles to settle out and pathogens to die off. The water then goes through flocculation, filtration and chlorination at the Lopez Water Treatment Plant.

The recreation area consists of 4,200 acres of open space, trails and camping areas. A network of equestrian, bike and hiking trails criss-cross the park which is primarily oak woodland and coastal sage scrub. The area is frequented by black bears, mountain lions, mule deer and a number of other small mammals.

Several special events are held at the park yearly such as the Lopez Lake Trout Derby held in May, the California Polytechnic University Triathlon and the Scott Tinley Dirty Adventures Triathlon.

 

Jeff walked over to the end of San Luis Pier and got this two pound live crab for our dinner on Saturday.  It was yummy.

 

 

Jeff and I walked the length of Ole Port Beach with our dogs several times during our stay.  It is the best beach ever!  The only Dogs can be off the leash and run and play freely beach!  Summer and Skye love run and catching their ball and Frisbee in the waves of the Pacific Ocean.