well off the beathen path

California Lake Destinations Record low lake levels at most reservoirs & lakes! The mega drought continues. Don't be disappointed on vacation: Lack of water at your lake destination may leave you mad this season. Know before you go. Check out the California Water Information page for more specific information. Reservoirs listed below are the lakes with the most water in California (as of June 2015). Number represents percent of capacity. WHISKEYTOWN LAKE West of Redding, CA 98% full  LEWISTON LAKE Trinity County, Weaverville, CA 94%  ANTELOPE LAKE Northern Sierra, Susanville, CA 99%  ENGLEBRIGHT LAKE Yuba Gold Co, Grass Valley, CA 95%  BULLARDS BAR Reservoir Gold Country, Grass Valley, CA 59%  ICE HOUSE Reservoir Gold Country, Placerville, CA 84%  UNION VALLEY Reservoir Gold Country, Placerville, CA 81%  LAKE TULLOCH Central Valley, Modesto, CA 96%  INDEPENDENCE LAKE High Sierra, Truckee, CA 95%  PYRAMID LAKE L...

Destinations Map of Gold Country All old REGION maps on DESTINATIONS will slowly be replaced this summer with new, customized GoogleMaps. Showing links to small towns, sightseeing stops, hiking trailheads, dining options, cabins and camping. The destinations and links will grow over time with more being added. Sierra Nevada Foothills, Historical Gold Rush California

Destinations Map of The Sierras Long ago I began compiling photos and data on remote back roads of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Now it's my (dream) job. Reworking and updating old pages every decade, whether they need it or not. All old REGION maps on DESTINATIONS will slowly be replaced this summer with new, customized GoogleMaps. Showing links to small towns, sightseeing stops, hiking trailheads, dining options, cabins and camping. The highest peaks in the nation seem like a good place to start. Sierra Nevada Mountains, California

Responding to the width of any device. The phrase 'responsive web design' did not exist a decade ago because bigger was better and the large 1500 mega pixel wide flat displays were all the rage back then. Wider photographs, crystal clear imagery, streaming videos and playing movies on your home computer. Gone were the days of ugly web 1.0, w/ limited screen space and 800 width, as advertising banners and text ads filled any blank space. Fast forward to today and web sites now need to look good on all computers, from desktop to palm sized. NEW SITE DESIGN IS IN THE WORKS for the content site of Total Escape. Map store sales are on the way out! Total Escape is celebrating 18 years online this month and it continues to be the independent travel guide to California Outdoors and Off the Beaten Path.

California Wildfires & Fire Information Extreme drought conditions means super high wildfire dangers for all of California. As of August 1st, nearly 60% of the golden state is under EXCEPTIONAL drought, one level up from the 'extreme' classification. We are more than one years worth of water overdue. Wildfires in California are quiet common and occur annually in the later part of the year (summer - autumn)  when the natural vegetation, brush and forests are the driest. Drought.gov will show just how bad the drought conditions are currently in the Western U.S. drought.gov Southern California as well as Northern California experience wildland fires, and since Central California is backed by the Sierra Nevadas, you should expect forest fires at high elevations and lower river canyons too. California is currently experiencing extreme fire dangers, so many parks and forest areas have higher than normal restrictions. The new normal is becoming extreme, as you can im...

It often seems as if I have forgotten about this long standing blogger blog, leaving it for months at a time without a post (maybe while traveling for weeks or working other more pressing projects). Over this past winter, I spent much time rebuilding older pages to a new format (WordPress) Outside Blog and I will continue this throughout the year. Covering the back roads like no other! I, DanaMite , am dedicated to the whole of Total Escape, my 8000 page web site on California travel destinations, off the beaten path . Established way back in 1996, in the web 1.0 days, on a 33k modem. First and foremost that I can offer is real world content, real experiences, travel logs, photos, GPS data and research I gather while exploring the golden state. Sleeping on the ground, tent camping outside of developed campgrounds, way back there "out in the field". Lakes, Rivers, Wilderness, Outdoor Recreation, Small Towns & Unique Lodging Managing databases on California d...

WATERPROOF TOPOGRAPHIC MAPS Paper maps are fading fast. Literally, disappearing into landfills, campfires or into the archives of map collectors. Digital maps have totally taken over our lives and you'll be hard pressed to find a decent printed local area hiking map when traveling small towns inside California . Keep in mind that many of the middle-of-nowhere, back road destinations we feature on Total Escape do not receive adequate cell phone service, much less a wireless, high speed, digital network. So plan accordingly. Old timers, frequent travelers and experienced outdoor folks still want the hard copy - a real map! Waterproof and tear resistant plastic maps are now common. Tom Harrison was one if the first to offer quality plastic hiking maps. All the  NatGeo map titles are 2-sided, full color and plastic. USDA has slowly been transitioning their National Forests maps to plastic maps over the past few years. California Wilderness area maps are only about...