Lake Berryessa — Attraction in St. Helena

With summer arriving, the warming temperatures remind us that there’s a gorgeous lake just up the hill from the Napa Valley floor. At 23 miles long, Lake Berryessa is the largest lake in Napa County, with a 2,000-acre wildlife area along its east side. When full, it stores 1.6 million acre feet of water, making it one of the largest bodies of fresh water in California. There are year-round recreational opportunities at this beautiful spot, but spring and summer are obviously the most popular seasons to get up there and enjoy the view.

So, what can you do at Lake Berryessa? Consider the following:

Boating and paddle sports. The lake has two marinas and three recreation areas with concessions and paddle sports such as kayaking, canoeing, and paddle-boarding are increasingly popular. You can hand-launch anywhere with legal access to the water, then explore the whole lake to find quiet coves and beautiful views.

Fishing. If angling’s your thing, you can fish for both cold- and warm-water species, including rainbow trout, bass, catfish, crappie, and bluegill.

Hiking and picnicking. Around the lake’s perimeter, there are at least six easy trails – from .1 mile to 2.6 miles – that invite you to explore, observe wildlife, and enjoy great views among the grassy hills dotted with oak and manzanita.

Camping. For information on specific sites and regulations, you should contact individual concession areas.

Swimming. Berryessa’s water reaches temperatures of up to 75 degrees in the summer, and there are beaches at the various concession areas. Note that there are no life-guarded areas at Lake Berryessa, so swim at your own risk.

Cycling. Bicycling is allowed in all of the day-use areas, and the roads surrounding the lake offer a variety of terrain and challenges. Note that the Smittle Creek Trail has bridges and stairs and was not designed with bicycles in mind.

Bird-watching. Eagles, hawks, songbirds, and wild turkeys are just a few of the species you...

The only down side to this lake is that too many of you knuckle headed wake boaters are very inconsiderate of us fishermen. Small aluminum boats do not ride your wakes well so please keep your distance, it's a huge lake, pick another line. The other only down side is the size of the lake, being so large, and having single lane road access.

That aside, this lake offers it all. Great shoreline access, camping, boat launches, beautiful scenery, even after the fires. Great fishing for large crappie, catfish of two varieties, brim, bass of three varieties, salmon of two varieties, and trout of two varieties. This is my go to lake, my local lake, and I absolutely love it. She's marked with illuminated buoys for easy night time returns to the boat launches. There is relatively low, to no debris on the lake compared to Folsom and Oroville and the like. Fuel is available at minimum at Markley and Pleasure Cove marinas.

Just do us a favor, when you come, bring an extra trash bag, and take out what you brought in. If you see stuff left by someone less considerate than yourself, pick up their litter too please. Don't ruin the experience and beauty of the lake for the...

Wow, what a beautiful lake! This place is amazing. So many great views. The lake itself is huge! I came here yesterday to go fishing. So many different coves and spot to fish it was incredible. Definitely plan on making another trip back here in the near future. Not many people there when we first arrived. But, by the time we left it was packed! I’m sure this place is VERY busy during the summer.

The spillway “Gloryhole” is awesome! To get a good view you have to park and walk up to the fenced area.

There are plenty of places for camping and shore fishing along the highway. Like I said before. This lake is very big. Everywhere that I stopped and looked or explored was all very clean and well kept. All in all I had a great experience here and would recommend this lake to anyone looking...