Sly Park Recreation Area — Attraction in Placerville

Had a very disheartening and honestly heartbreaking experience on 9/22/24 at approximately 2:45 PM. I’ve been to this park a handful of times in recent years and have never had a park employee be so aggressive with us to which felt honestly racially motivated. My family and I who are biracial Hispanics went in the hopes of staying for a few hours. My parents have never really taken trips due to being hardworking individuals nor having the means to do so, so I decided to treat them to a day at the lake. The specific area of the park where we were at was named Sierra campground which was right next to day use benches. My family and I, never having been to that specific area of the park before accidentally mistook one of the more secluded campgrounds near the bathroom as a day use spot given its proximity to the lake and day use area. A very kind ranger who we later learned was the supervisor came up to us after we had been there for about an hour and politely asked us if we were camping and if not that this was a camp spot and if we could finish up what we were doing and move to a day use spot. We apologized and said we confused that spot for a day use area given the proximity to the shoreline of the lake, and we kindly obliged and said we were actually about 10 min from leaving, to which he said around the lines of no worries you guys can stay for another 10 min but if another ranger comes up and asks you to leave then if you can just please move out of that spot that would be great. No problem. Not even 5 min later we began to pack up, to which we noticed another park worker in a neon yellow shirt with a full looking beard who was Caucasian on a Polaris was staring at us. Mind you, our car was not even 10 feet from where we were sitting and found it a bit odd but continued to pack up. At this point he was standing directly next to our car still watching us actively pack up our stuff walking towards our car, even placing a few chairs into the trunk to which he very aggressively said “I know you guys are heading out but you cannot be there that is a campground. People pay for that spot. Is this your car? I told you guys not to go over there and you went over there anyways” to which we said we never saw you near this area nor did anyone say anything to us for a full hour before a ranger told us to move to which that same ranger drove past us several times before saying anything and and we moved immediately. He started getting more aggressive and sarcastic being like “yeah okay” and walked off, to which I started getting upset and said “people make mistakes dude how did you know I purposefully meant to go over there if no one told us.” We then left immediately to go complain to the front gate, to which we miraculously met back up with the same supervising ranger who kindly told us to leave. We stated we would never return, and quite honestly not even surprised there’s not many POC that visit this park or national parks in general given the history behind their conception and quite honestly the possibility of similar incidences like this. I am beyond disgusted. I really hope that ranger went to deliver consequences to that gentleman otherwise, recreation is an unspoken privileged activity not open to all. Shame on this park for allowing individuals like that to continue working there and for all POC wanting to visit you’re better off going somewhere where your hard earned money is valued beyond...

I spent many childhood summers coming to this campground for camping and family reunions, and now I'm fortunate to live close enough that I'm able to bring my daughter here as often as we like. The roads, campgrounds, restrooms, picnic areas, and trails are all quite clean and well-maintained. Jenkinson Lake is beautiful to view, swim in, or cruise around in a boat or other watercraft. There are plenty of hiking, biking and equine trails to explore as well, with a waterfall at the far end of the lake if you're willing to hike several miles in to see it. I absolutely love that I can see the snow-covered Sierra Mountains in the background as it's a breathtaking sight and a huge reminder of how much bigger the world is around us.

With that said... I typically mind my business when here but today I couldn't help but notice a small group of older adults that came with a dog whom they allowed to play in the water. I politely told one of the people that they (i.e., the rangers, EID) don't allow dogs in the water, and got sucked into a lengthy one-sided discussion about how stupid it is since people and boats are allowed. Then one of the other people in the group chimes in and says, "The dog is trans-human today!" as an attempt to validate the situation. I really wasn't trying to be a Karen as much as I was just trying to be friendly and save them from being approached by a ranger. Who knew I would be met with such ignorance and egoistic attitude! It just so happened that an EID employee (likely an aide of some sort) pulled up in his company truck and was emptying garbage cans. These people had an even longer roundtable discussion with him about all the whys and how they all just couldn't wrap their heads around the stupidity of such a rule; but what really blew me away was that this guy told them verbatim that he takes his dog to the waterfall and lets him pee in it all the time (thanks for potentially making every human and/or animal sick downstream, idiot). "As long as a ranger doesn't see you... This area always has rangers around, but not on the other side." Just pure wowww. While it may seem like a "stupid rule" to many (including myself tbh), it was put into place for a reason. Maybe if you don't live here it's easy to dismiss because it's "just one dog", but imagine if everyone thought it was okay for their one dog too. Would you feel comfortable drinking the water or swimming in it then? We have a puppy and he has to sit and watch from the sidelines while we play in the water. My dog's "feelings" aren't more important than the health of the wildlife and people who visit this little slice of natural heaven, and those who live in the communities that are supplied water from this lake. There was also a time my daughter was in diapers, and as much as I wanted to bring her into the water, I couldn't and had to wait almost a year until I could. Can I break the rules? Sure, but I think of the bigger picture and try not to be a selfish dummy with zero regard for others. Same reason why I don't litter or pollute. We all live in the same fishbowl, people! Furthermore, everyone pays to be able to come here and it ain't cheap. So what the hell am I paying for if others are just going to ruin it with their...

Nice lake but very overpriced and if you pay for the $50/night premium, lakeside campsites (+boat fees, +pet fees, +extra vehicle fees) be prepared to come back from boating to find a family of non-English-speaking squatters in your camp, hanging out at your picnick tables, using your BBQ, and pretending they don't understand what your problem is, while the Ranger is no where to be found or seen ALL DAY.

You will see the Ranger in the morning to collect money for any extra vehicles in your camp, then you will not see them again until around 10pm when they make their rounds enforcing quiet time for anyone talking too loud, laughing, or playing an acoustic guitar. Then they will be gone for the night. We camped here three years in a row, this is their standard procedure.

On our third trip, when we respectfully complained about their complete lack of presence during the day and then their aggressive, "these-are-the-rules" attitude towards their paying guests at night, they got real irritated, real quick, and told us we were welcome to go camp somewhere else if we don't like it there. At this point they've got one hand on their gun and the other shining a flashlight in your face.

Our group consisted of respectful, middle-age professionals with families, not hooligans of any sort.

The Rangers are total A-holes, not there when real enforcement is needed, but there to collect fees and enforce the pm lockdown by intimidating and bullying the paying guests, like armed private security, before they disappear to their beds for the night. And if you end up with wild, partying neighbors late at night, don't expect the Rangers to come back to do anything about it.

We will not be back. I only give it two stars because it's...