Don Pedro Lake

Don Pedro is on a different scale to everything else near Arnold. Its arms run for miles into the bare hills between La Grange and Moccasin, the shoreline is measured in the high double digits of miles, and people come here for whole weeks on houseboats rather than for an afternoon swim.

It is about an hour and a half from both cabins, south through Angels Camp and Sonora and out towards Highway 120. That distance means it is worth going for a proper day — boat rental, fishing, or a night on the water — rather than a quick dip.

The lake's marinas rent houseboats, patio boats and fishing boats, and the whole point of a houseboat here is that you find your own cove and stay in it. Water-skiing, tubing and paddling all work on the wider water, though the wind can come up hard in the afternoon on the open reaches.

There are several developed recreation areas with ramps, campgrounds and day-use beaches. Fees, camping reservations and ramp hours are set by the operating district and change with the season, so book and check rather than turn up hopeful in July.

This is a serious bass lake — largemouth and smallmouth around the rocky points and submerged structure, with trout, kokanee salmon and catfish depending on the season and depth. Tournaments run here, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Early morning and evening are the productive windows in summer, when the middle of the day is both hot and bright. A California fishing licence is required; check current regulations and any limits for the lake before you cast.

It is a working reservoir, and the level moves a long way through the year. In a wet spring it is full to the trees; by late summer in a dry year the pale bathtub ring can be tens of feet high, ramps close, and a beach that existed in June is a walk across baked mud in September.

Check the current level before you commit, especially if you are towing a boat or planning to launch at a specific ramp. Shade is scarce, the hills are bare, and July afternoons here are genuinely hot — this is a lake for early starts.

There is camping and houseboating at the lake itself, and very little else nearby. If you want a roof, a kitchen and cool air at the end of it, both cabins are about an hour and a half north in Arnold at 4,000 feet — pines, a hot tub, and mountain lakes of a very different character twenty minutes further up the hill.