Loch Lomond Reservoir - Santa Cruz County, California

Visited on 3/29/2019 while on a weekend camping trip adventure to the South Bay Area, we camped at Coyote Lake near Gilroy.  Jeff and our two Chocolate Labs, Summer and Skye joined us on our adventure of several lakes in the area.  Loch Lomond is nestled in the Santa Cruz Mountains near Lompico, California and is located 574 feet above sea level.  This 175 acre reservoir is part of the Santa Cruz Water Department system, it was created by building the Newell Creek Dam across Newell Creek - a tributary of the San Lorenzo River. The dam is an earth-fill barricade, measuring 190 feet by 750 feet. It was financed by bond issuance, and completed in the Fall of 1960; impounded water first ran over the spillway in March 1963. It is 2.5 miles long, 0.25 miles wide.  It provides a portion of the drinking water supply for the city of Santa Cruz, California and other nearby County areas. Boating, fishing, picnicking and hiking take place at the reservoir. No daily private boat launching is permitted. No swimming is allowed. The reservoir has a boat rental and nice little snack shop which has great ice cream treats.

Jeff and I stopped in the town of Felton and visited this historic old covered bridge which was built back in 1892.  The Felton Covered Bridge is a covered bridge over the San Lorenzo River in Felton, Santa Cruz County in the U.S. state of California. The bridge employs a Brown truss structural system and is approximately 80 feet long. The bridge became a California Historical Landmark in 1957, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and had a major restoration in 1987 after being damaged in storms in the winter of 1982.

Felton Covered Bridge is considered to be the tallest covered bridge in the United States, and was the main entry point for Felton for 45 years.  The bridge is no longer used on the roadway, but is accessible to pedestrians visiting the Felton Covered Bridge Park.

To cap off the long day of visiting many lakes in the area we decided to reward our patient and water loving Chocolate Labs for visiting several lakes without putting their paws in the water.  We treated them to a off-leash beach visit to Santa Cruz at the Lighthouse Dog Beach.  They chased the ball into the ocean and became friends with several other dogs having fun along the coast.