Jenkinson Lake See Sly Park Recreation Area-Campground

I come here to sleep and eat between mountain bike rides. For that purpose it fits the bill very well. If you come here to” camp”…be aware that most of the sites are right on top of each other and you will have minimal privacy. Not the place to go if you want a quiet, serene trip in the forest unless you have a group and would take a couple of neighboring spots. That said, things are VERY well maintained and clean here. Camp spots are spotless and vault toilets seem to be freshened up often. The lake itself is beautiful and this whole area is an excellent place for kids, swimming, hikes… etc.

This is my absolute favorite lake hike. It’s about 8.5 miles around, the trail is fantastic, it’s beautiful, you pass through campgrounds and beaches, it’s great to bring your dog. I go here whenever I have a chance. Just watch out for the mountain bike riders on the trail. I park at a free spot right before the damn and the trail is right there.

Took my kids here for swimming for the day. Was $ 11 to get in and totally worth it. The ranger we talked to was super friendly and very helpful. We went down a bit and found this place with a little tiny dock. The ground was super rocky and the lake was very muddy/​red clay. Jumping from the end of the dock put you in about 5 feet of water, which was perfect for my little dudes. We went on a Tuesday and we had the whole side of the lake to ourselves. I decided to give myself a little mud bath and bake in the sun for a bit. Rinsed it off and my skin has been baby butt smooth all week. We brought food, swam, I got to read books, and all the while we were surrounded by big beautiful majestic redwoods. In love with the lake. So relaxing!

Though the lake is low and the waterfall is dry (serious drought here currently — Aug 2015) it was a beautiful experience to camp and enjoy this lake. We stayed at the Pine Cone area, #10, and it was awesome! Close walk to the lake. Ranger came by and sold us firewood. Clean bathrooms and water spigots all within walking distance. Beautiful lake and landscape. Excellent star gazing here!

Just went there for the day. Was our first visit to the lake. It was a great day. Just went to first picnic area and walked down with our stuff. There was plenty of parking. Wasn’t sure by looking at google earth. Was a warm day. The water was perfect. I prefer lower elevation lakes simply because both the weather and water is warmer. Knowing it was late in the summer (warmer water) and it was going to be a hot day, we chose Jenkinson Lake. Staff at the gate were friendly. I often feel «territorial» from where we set up our day «camp.» We were violated I felt a bit, but that’s going to happen. Next time I will go to the marina and take our raft and swim across the lake (next the dam as to not get in the way of boats.) Not nearly as many people over there.

It’s a beautiful lake… However, before going we wanted to find the lay of the land per se… So we went to their website, which is a mess anyway. We have 3 dogs and the website did say dogs on leashes, but said nothing about them not going in the water. When we got there the ranger waved us up to the window so no time to read… The attendant saw our dog and asked how many dogs… we said 3, it is $ 5.00 per dog btw… We went and we were swimming when a ranger came to tell us that dogs are NOT allowed in the water anywhere. We did ask for at least a refund for the dogs, but they said no! It was an hour drive there… They really need to post on their website that the dogs can’t go in the water… We would not have gone… I can only imagine travelers from other places driving further only to find this out… yes, it’s posted before going in… however, the ranger waived us in and the attendants could have asked or told us about the dogs. Not dog friendly!

Worst campground I have seen. It was on a steep slope with no place to pitch a tent. The price was also higher than other campgrounds in the area. The lake was nice though. I just don’t think I would camp here again.

We have been here for a week now. We have a great campsite 73. The staffers have always been pleasant and professional. We have a lake view through the pines. It has been very quiet during the week and of course busier and noisier on the weekend. I’m quite happy here.

My husband and I stayed at site 63 in the Sierra Spur section for two weekend nights early June 2014.
This was a great spot for us, who were just looking for a quiet getaway. Being surrounded by tent only sites and tucked away from the main area it was pretty quiet at night. The sight had nice lake views through the trees, but there was no shade during the day at the site or next to the water. Site 64 next to us had better shade.
We rented kayaks from the boat launch and paddled/​hiked to the waterfall which was gorgeous, you can even jump off rocks next to it into the pool. We even saw two bald eagles next to the water.
The Hazel creek campsites looked like they would be the quietest, if that is what you are looking for, and they had a lot of good shade. Some of the sites bordered the creek and looked really nice, although none had a lake view. These sites are also closest to the trail to the waterfall.
We found the rangers/​park staff to all be very friendly. This seems to be a pretty kid/​family friendly place, not the most remote but good for being one of the few places you can swim in a lake around the bay area!

We arrived on a holiday weekend (Sunday at 430PM), and asked to just be able to drive through the area campground and boat launches as we had not been there in a couple years and just bought a new boat.
The young obnoxious park ranger type person told me very rudely, twice, maam you can walk in with no charge, but driving in is the 11 dollar charge as a day use, even though it was 430 and we obviously weren’t going to use much as the day was almost done…
Jenkinson lake is ridiculous to even consider walking into to see anything at all… it is quite an extensive drive to see any boat launch areas at all; and with the current water conditions in the state, we really needed to see that is was worth bringing a truck and boat, utilizing a tank o gas to get there.
So, we paid the money as we really wanted to consider taking our new boat and some other boat owners with us to have a multi boat, multi car, multi expensive day/​weekend at Jenkinson lake in the next week or two.
However, with the rude young park man who thought he was a ranger or something, and his attitude, inability to even consider letting us just cruise through as a prequel to a nice weekend with many people, boats and money coming their way, we will not be
giving them any business any time soon, most likely never.
The additional people in the entryway little cabin had smartass smirks also as they were listening to the rude little young man…
Customer Service goes a long way, my advice is don’t let the children treat the adults like they are children, and you may earn some old customers back; right now, these old customers aren’t coming back.
There was a better way he could have done his job and still had us pay the money to cruise through, without losing our business down the line.

easy directions. not too far from town. easy to plan. you wont get lost.
but seriously expensive to camp here. $ 15 per night per vehicle on top of the $ 36 per night site fee. this is all disclosed on their website so it should be no surprise. motorcycles DO NOT get a break on fee’s. Very crowded. Very loud. lots of screaming kids and loud music. Lots of trails and easy water access. probably good for people with small kids. Dogs allowed for an extra $ 5 a night per dog.
It was ok, but I wont be going back.

This lake originally received nice planter size rainbow trout stocks from DFG but because of the lawsuit DFG faced, trout planting had ceased for this lake. The lake itself have a nice population of smallmouth and largemouth bass and was suppose to have a population of lake trout as well although I’ve never caught one because I don’t really care for trolling because it’s the BORRINGEST thing in the world.
Lake Jenkinson do have a lot of back creeks that leads up far into the backcountry that does offer good trout fishing despite the cease on trout stocking. If the angler is willing to take a hike to the end of these back creek, a good rainbow fishery do still exist and offer a lot of excitement still. These fishes don’t grow big and seldom pass 14 inch in length and an occasional 17 inch will be a trophy from these back creeks. Tossing pistol pete’s flies, nightcrawlers, salmon eggs, and natural baits will be the best bet of hooking up one of these pretty rainbows. Word of advice,“please catch and release because the planting program had ceased for this lake and the surviving trout are all that’s left in these back creeks.“
Overall fishing grade would be a «C» or about average for this lake since hunting for bass in this lake can be quite troublesome for the angler who’s not familiar with this lake structure.