Visit To Loch Lomond

This morning, my wife and I visited the Loch Lomond Recreation Area. It is a pretty reservior in the Santa Cruz Mountains (not the one in Scotland). It is about 10 miles from our house, so it is easy to get to. We had visited this recreation area a number of years ago during a holiday weekend. It was a beautiful day and was fairly crowded. So this time, we wanted to come before the summer season starts. Today was about the last day that we could do this. It was not very crowded at all. I would imagine that the park is not too bad mid-week in the summer as well.

When you get to the park, you arrive at the park headquarters/store. Here you can pay your usage fees, pick up a free map, buy fishing supplies, rent a boat or buy a drink and snacks. The park rangers were very friendly and helpful.






There is a trail that wanders through the redwood forest along the shores of the lake. It goes about 1/3 of the way around the lake. We hiked along this trail, taking in the scenic views. It was very nice and peaceful. We ran into a few fisherman, but not too many. A few minutes later we would be around a corner and would not see anybody for awhile. We probably hiked out about 2 miles or so and then hiked back. The trail was mostly flat and easy going.




Loch Lomond is part of the Santa Cruz water supply, so they do not allow gasoline-powered boats or swimming. In fact there is not supposed to be any human contact with the water. They do allow electric-powered boats, kayaks and canoes. One of the nice things about banning gasoline-powered boats, is that the lake is very quiet. And the boats move past slowly with very little wake. It just makes for a more serene experience.



About halfway down the trail, you can see an island in the lake. It looks like a great place to have a picnic. Since you can not swim in the lake, you need to have a boat to get there. Someday, I think it would be fun to rent a canoe or kayaks, paddle around awhile, then end up at the island for a picnic.




In summary, we had a very nice time just wandering down the trail. It was a nice peaceful walk.

More details on the park can be found here. This site has "virtual reality" pictures. It seems like every park has them on thier website now!

More of my pictures can be found here.

Oops - got to run. Earlier this week, we signed up for Netflix and I just heard the mailman arrive. Hopefully with our first shipment of DVD's!