Lake Cuyamaca, also called Cuyamaca Reservoir, is a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

and a recreation area in the eastern

Cuyamaca Mountains The Cuyamaca Mountains ( Kumeyaay: ''‘Ekwiiyemak''), locally the Cuyamacas, are a mountain range of the Peninsular Ranges System, in San Diego County, southern California. The mountain range runs roughly northwest to southeast. The Laguna Mount ...

, located in

eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fi ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Geography

California State Route 79 State Route 79 (SR 79) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. The route begins at Interstate 8 (California), Interstate 8 (I-8) in San Diego County, California, San Diego County, continuing north through the town of Cuyamaca, Cal ...

wraps around three shores, and provides access to/from Julian to the north and I−8 to the south. Lake Cuyamaca is north of the Paso Picacho Campground and its trailheads in

Cuyamaca Rancho State Park Cuyamaca Rancho State Park is a state park in Southern California, United States, located east of San Diego in the Cuyamaca and Laguna Mountains of the Peninsular Ranges. The park's feature pine, fir, and oak forests, with meadows and streams ...

History

The dam at Lake Cuyamaca is the second-oldest in California still in use, and was completed in 1888. It was built to supply drinking water to the

city of San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

. It was originally piped down to San Diego in wooden flumes. It continues to be part of the municipal water supply system for San Diego. In the mid-1960s, the Lake Cuyamaca Recreation and Park District was formed. Through various projects over time, it has created a more permanent water supply infrastructure and new recreation features at the reservoir.

Recreation

Lake Cuyamaca is a recreation area operated by the Lake Cuyamaca Recreation and Park District and the Helix Water District. It offers boating, fishing, picnicking, birdwatching, hiking, wedding and party venues, cabin rentals and camping. A store, restaurant, pub, and tackle shop are onsite, as well as boat rentals. The reservoir is stocked with over 38,000 lbs. of trout annually, and is the only San Diego lake that is able to stock trout all year long. Other species of fish include Florida bass, smallmouth bass, channel catfish, crappie, bluegill and sturgeon. Conical Middle Peak is above the area on the west, and North Peak on the north. Hiking trails reach the summit of

Cuyamaca Peak Cuyamaca Peak is a mountain peak of the Cuyamaca Mountains range, in San Diego County, Southern California. Geography At , its summit is the second highest point in San Diego County. Cuyamaca Peak is located roughly from the Pacific Ocean, wi ...

, located to the southwest of Lake Cuyamaca and in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park.

References

External links

Lakecuyamaca.org: official Lake Cuyamaca Recreation and Park District website California State Parks.gov: Cuyamaca Rancho State Park website
Cuyamaca Cuyamaca Mountains East County (San Diego County) Parks in San Diego County, California Campgrounds in California Cuyamaca Cuyamaca 1888 establishments in California {{SanDiegoCountyCA-geo-stub

Geography

History

Recreation

See also

References

External links