Gerle Creek Divide Reservoir - El Dorado County, California

Gerle Creek Divide Reservoir is a 57 surface acre reservoir located in the El Dorado National Forest, Crystal Basin Recreation Area.  The Reservoir is located just 17.5 miles from Pollock Pines, near Jacobsen which was a historical town in the area.  On the north side of the lake is a newly renovated, beautiful 50 campsite campground is located on the shore of Gerle Creek Divide Reservoir, which is 27 miles north of Highway 50 on Ice House Road and Forest Road 33. The campground is at 5,300 feet and is usually open from Memorial Day weekend to mid-September. The campground amenities feature vault toilets, piped water, picnic tables, grills, fire rings, bear boxes.  The Harvest Trail, a wheelchair accessible interpretive trail meanders around the north side of the lake and includes a nice fishing pier.

The 50 campsites nestled under the lodge pole pine trees at this recently renovated campground are big enough to build a house on and calm Gerle Creek Reservoir (no motorboats allowed) is an idyllic place to paddle a kayak or canoes. There’s even an island where the kids—and Fido—can play pirate while parents watch from the shore.  The lake is no longer stocked with fish, but you'll see plenty of folks casting their lines anyway from a wooden dock. A wheelchair-accessible trail on the lake makes for easy walking and those willing to bushwhack can hike completely around the lake's perimeter.  Access to Desolation Wilderness is available from Loon Lake just up the road.

Lower Bassi Falls is located on the northeast side of Union Valley Reservoir and is a beautiful 4 mile hike up to the Upper Falls.  The water was flowing nicely still early in the summer on June 15, 2019.

Gerle Creek Reservoir is one of a string of lakes—Ice House, Union Valley, Wrights and Loon are the others—in the Crystal Basin Recreation Area used by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District for water storage and power generation. The only drawback for campers at Gerle Creek is that water levels are raised and lowered at unpredictable times, sometimes leaving a ring of sticky mud along the shoreline. Watercraft should be beached high so that a sudden rise in lake level doesn't float them away.

Bears can be a problem in this area, but bear-proof boxes for food storage are provided at every site. The well maintained campground has vault toilets and piped water, but no showers. Bring all the food and provisions you'll need; it's a long way back to civilization! Ice and sundries can be purchased at Ice House Resort about a half-hour away.

Dogs welcome in campsites and on trails but not at the swimming beach. You'll have to bushwhack a bit to find a good place to enter the water from the shore.