Bowman Lake — Attraction in Nevada City

It's a nice lake but the dirt road to get to it makes it not worth going. There's no beaches, it's all rocky shores and cliffside access. There are a few places that you can launch a boat and there was a sailboat on the lake that I would estimate to be 20ft long. I did have a high clearance vehicle but didn't feel like it was completely necessary to reach the lake. It was mostly just a poorly maintained dirt road. I would assume that if there were snow it would be a difficult road but by the end of summer you can make it there with 6-8 inches of clearance and any type of tire you like. Wouldn't drive the mustang out there but I could probably make it in my Nissan Juke. There are a couple campgrounds with vault toilets. One of them had concrete picnic tables at the sites. I was actually looking for a secluded area that was hard to get to. I was a little disappointed by the ease of access after all I had read about people getting stranded up there for days. I supposed if you did get a flat and didn't have a spare you'd be in trouble, there's no cell service, but I wouldn't recommend going anywhere without...

Here’s the scoop. Beautiful lake! Make sure you have a high vehicle as the road in is very rocky novice level wheeling. Extra tire and full gas recommended. Good trout fishing on the back corner where the small river runs in and meets the lake. Trolled the lake and saw no other fish except the trout by the river. Caught 6 rainbows using crawler worms - lures didn’t work. Bring plenty of worms!!! Cold water but clean and free of plants. Plenty of camping spots spread out around the north side with fire pits. No potties or real amenities so pack well and plan on packing everything out including your garbage. Lots LOTS of yellow jacket bees. They didn’t sting us but they’re a nuisance the minute you bring food out. DO bring a bug tent to comfortably eat in or they will drive you nuts. Didn’t see mosquitoes. Dry, rocky and piney landscape. Night was stunning - watch the moon come up over the hills. Plenty of drift wood for fire can be gathered by the shores of the first set of campgrounds. Would...

The lake itself is beautiful, the drive isn’t too bad getting up there, however, if you look very carefully, there is trash all over. A lot of people dumping/shallow burying their “toilet bags”. NEVER go on a holiday, lots of shooting, lots of OHV racing up and down the one road and people just randomly move into your camp spot. The Forest Service’s presence is woefully absent. Seen it once, fine, will not...