Modesto Reservoir and Lake Turlock in NCal

[Ronnie]

With all of the drought problems this year and that all pandemic restrictions only recently being lifted I was not able to reserve any campsites at the these lakes (all the spots have already been reserved every weekend through the summer. As such I can only do day trips to these lakes so decided to check them out before making group plans for oth my family. Here is what I found:

1. the Modesto reservoir is an old favorite of mine, not really in Modesto but it provides the drinking water, at least some of it, for the county Modesto is in. It’s small and generally shallow which makes it great for jet boats and pwcs. My boat is usually the biggest one on the water there. Because it is a water supply no fuel containers or pets are allowed in the park.

The invasive mussel inspection is either the completion of an affidavit based on the honor system that your boat is not infested/you have not boated with it in infested waters In the past 30 days OR a dog trained to iD the invasive species of mussels is walked around your boat and trailer when you enter the park (the Latter on the weekends).

Although Ive been coming here for almost 20 years now I was still surprised by how many great day use areas there are here. That is spots where I can set up “camp” for the day right on the water with easy access to the boat and pwcs. I’ve decided to hold a family day trip near the secondary boat ramp because it has some shade pot, lots of parking, permanent restrooms and is well patrolled by the sheriff.

My wife and I didn’t bring a boat or Waverunners for this survey trip but while we were in the area the sheriffs boat came in to tell a large family not to set up on the boat ramp (I hate it when someone tries to use the ramp as there spot for the day). Together with another sheriff in a truck the family was off the ramp in just a few minutes after they started setting up on it. The sheriff also gave a warning to a boater speeding in the no wake zone the ramp is in.

2. Lake Turlock or Turlock Lake, is about 15 minutes away from the Modesto Reservoir and roughly twice as big. To our surprise it’s closed for the Summer, as in not only is the ramp closed but the park entrance is closed as well. Yet their website shows that all 66 camping spots are reserved. This closure may have been announced recently as a result of most of the state including this area being declared to be in an extreme drought. When o drove by I could see that the end of the ramp was out of the water. We are glad we made this trip before settling on a place to hold some day trips with our family. It would have sucked to show up at a closed lake.

pics from the Modesto reservoir.

 

[Ronnie]

I just saw this. I wish I would have seen it before driving miles out of my way.

 

[Ronnie]

Here is pic of the Modesto Reservoir Map. Again, the water is usually shallow and the lake is small so jet boats are the biggest boats on the water there. Also worth noting is that section a contains all full hook up sights many are right next to the water/ also the area of the lake in the upper right of the map is a no wake zone for fishing only, so roughly half the reservoir is dedicated to fishing/no wake.