well off the beathen path

Lotsa mid-western transplants typing in Google "Southern California Lakes". Well campers, I hate to break it to ya, but California has mostly reservoirs. Man-made lakes & river dams to supply our cities & crops with valuable water. The few more natural lakes in Southern California - Henshaw , Hemet , Cuyamaca nearly dry up in late summer. California is a dry state, the whole west for that matter. Face it, inland San Diego is almost a desert. It's right next to Baja & Anza Borrego Desert . If you wanna see clear mountain water, with trees, maybe pine forest views & hear bluebirds... with big rivers flowing & decent fishing, then you are gonna need to drive. When the crowds at Big Bear & Arrowhead annoy you, then the plan B is obvious. Drive further. Drive north, about half way up the Golden State Freeway I #5. About 6 hours from the busy hub of SoCal. For recreation lakes, alpine lakes, real lakes in California. The Sierra Nevada mountains ...