Trinity Lake

Backed by the snow covered peaks of the Trinity Alps with 145 miles of forested shoreline, the warm water of Trinity Lake provides a vast playground for all types of water sports from waterskiing and wakeboarding to quite fishing or paddling into remote coves. Located about 20 miles north of Weaverville along Highway 3, the lake is nearly 20 miles long, holding a capacity of 2.4 million acre feet of water.  It is the North States’s third largest reservoir, created upon the 1961 completion of  the Trinity Dam. It stores water for the Central Valley Project, which provides Central California with water for irrigation as well as producing hydroelectric power.

Trinity Lake is surrounded primarily by undeveloped national forest and the Shasta-Trinity National Recreation area.  Hidden coves and glassy inlets invite exploration of wildlife viewing, swimming and picnicking. An excellent place for fishing, the lake as both largemouth and smallmouth bass, rainbow trout, and Kokanee salmon.  Trinity Lake is also known for it’s Bald Eagle preserve, as well as observing the osprey and other water fowl.