Serene Lakes (also called Ice Lakes) are a pair of freshwater

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s, located in the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

Mountains in Northern California, about northwest of

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City, Nevad ...

. Serene Lakes consists of two connected bodies of water, Lake Serena and Lake Dulzura, which together span about . Located in the

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

of Soda Springs in Placer County, CA, the lakes are adjacent to

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...

to the north and Donner Pass to the east. The

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

ID for Serene Lakes i
254806

History

Serene Lakes was discovered during the mid-1800s, when the

First transcontinental railroad North America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the " Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail netwo ...

was being constructed. The lakes were located along several routes during the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

, including the historic

California Trail The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California. After it was established, the first half of the California Trail f ...

, and the first settler, Fitz William Redding Jr, arrived in 1866. Before the widespread adoption of refrigeration, Serene Lakes served as a source of ice for the city of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, earning the lakes the name "Ice Lakes". When author

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

visited the lakes, he named them Lake Dulzura and Lake Serena, which was combined to form "Serene Lakes".

Recreation

Summer activities at Serene Lakes include fishing, windsurfing, sailing, and paddle-boating. Swimming and watersports are only permitted in Lake Dulzura, in order to protect the drinking water derived from Lake Serena. Lake Dulzura contains a public beach, dock, and beach volleyball courts. The lakes are surrounded by several hiking trails, including Castle Pass, Summit Station Trail, and Hoelter Hall Trail. Many of the trails span the mountains around the lake, some leading to mountaintops, such as Lola's Lookout. Winter activities include cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. Serene Lakes are also surrounded by several ski resorts, including

Sugar Bowl Ski Resort Sugar Bowl is a ski and snowboard area in northern Placer County near Norden, California along the Donner Pass of the Sierra Nevada, approximately west of Reno, Nevada on Interstate 80, that opened on December 15, 1939. Sugar Bowl is a medium ...

and Soda Springs Mountain Resort, and ice skating is available when the frozen lake is accessible.

References

{{reflist Lakes of California Lakes of Northern California Lakes of Placer County, California Tourist attractions in Placer County, California

History

Recreation

See also

References