Lake Berryessa

Image above is a painting by my mother, Christel Carpenter Dawkins

I have been looking over some of my archives from years past lately, and I've been thinking a lot about Lake Berryessa. This place was very special to me during my time in grad school, but I haven't been back in a long time. Read more to hear about some of the highlights from the past.

Stebbins Cold Canyon Preserve

Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve is an open space site that UC Davis maintains as an ecological preserve for teaching and research. Here is a great write-up of the loop, which is comprised of both the Homestead Trail and the Blue Ridge Loop (map here). UC Davis is where I went for graduate school, and this trail was a favorite trail during that period of time. I see on the website that dogs are no longer allowed, but there were lots of folks who used to bring dogs about 10 years ago. I wonder if that rule is recent? I hope so! As you can see, I brought my own dog on a hike here many years ago. Indeed, a lot has changed here since I hiked it last. It has become part of a national monument: the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument (managed by the US National Forest Service), and it also suffered a devastating wildfire in 2015. Now, UC Davis is studying ecological recovery after a fire.

It's a fairly strenuous 5.1-mile loop, especially in the warmer months because of the exposed ridge top. The heat of the sun really hurts when you are climbing 1,400 feet in elevation on the trail. The creek is "cold" because it feeds off the waters draining from the bottom of Lake Berryessa. It's an amazing hike! And if you go visit after quarantine is over, then you should head to near-by Winters to eat that the amazing Putah Creek Cafe after your hike.

Smittle Creek and Oak Shores Day Use Areas

In addition to the hiking at Stebbins Cold Canyon, there are lots of great picnic areas that are manage by the Bureau of Reclamation. We usually favored the ones along the west shore of the Lake: Smittle Creek and Oak Shores (see map here). There are some easy hikes that run along the perimeter of the little pennisulas and inlets in Smittle Creek. These are nice to do after a picnic if you don't want to brave the more strenuous loop at Stebbins Cold Canyon.