Stafford Lake County Park is a park in the
Marin County, California parks system, managed by the
Marin County Department of Parks and Open Space. The park is located in
Novato
Novato ( Spanish for "Novatus") is a city in Marin County, California, in the North Bay region of the Bay Area. At the 2020 census, Novato had a population of 53,225.
History
What is now Novato was originally the site of several Coast Miwok ...
, north of
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " 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 fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
and is in a classic northern California valley among grazing farmland.
The lake is man-made and there is no boating or swimming allowed. The land in the park includes lakefront fields, creek, meadows and some redwood groves, and is named for the Stafford Farm, on which the lake sits. The park hosts many events such as concerts, known as Rock'n Blues by the Lake, with bands such as
Journey
Journey or journeying may refer to:
* Travel, the movement of people between distant geographical locations
** Day's journey, a measurement of distance
** Road trip, a long-distance journey on the road
Animals
* Journey (horse), a thoroughbred ra ...
,
Yonder Mountain String Band
The Yonder Mountain String Band is an American progressive bluegrass group from Nederland, Colorado. Composed of Dave Johnston, Ben Kaufmann, Adam Aijala, and Nick Piccininni, the band has released five studio albums and several live recordings ...
and
Jefferson Starship. For a number of years the park hosted the Marin
Renaissance fair
A Renaissance fair, Renaissance faire or Renaissance festival is an outdoor gathering open to the public and typically commercial in nature, which purportedly recreates a historical setting for the amusement of its guests. Some are permanent the ...
.
Bike park
In mid-2017, a bike park was added to Stafford Lake, featuring courses of all skill levels and great views of the lake. The park is currently being expanded.
Disc golf
The
disc golf course was first constructed as an object course in 1993 and baskets were installed in 1997. In 2007, three concrete tees were installed. The course is long by most standards and is very hilly, and in turn very challenging. Walking the course is approximately a walk and is mildly strenuous due to the very hilly nature of the terrain. Each of the 18 holes have one or two tees and two to five pin locations, with a total of 60 basket locations in total. Course length can vary from if all holes were short to if all holes were in long. The 'traditional' layout is a hefty .
Gallery
Image:StaffordLake1.jpg, View of Lake from 3rd Tee of the course.
Image:Staffordlake-14thhole.jpg, Looking at the 14th hole of the course towards the lake.
See also
*
List of lakes in California
There are more than 3,000 named lakes, reservoirs, and dry lakes in the U.S. state of California.
Largest lakes
In terms of area covered, the largest lake in California is the Salton Sea, a lake formed in 1905 which is now saline. It occupie ...
*
List of lakes in the San Francisco Bay Area
This list of lakes in the San Francisco Bay Area groups lakes, ponds, and reservoirs by county. Numbers in parentheses are Geographic Names Information System feature ids.
Alameda County
* Almond Reservoir ()
* Berryman Reservoir ()
* Bethany ...
References
Stafford Lake at Marin County Parks and Open Space websitedisc golf course information at Professional Disc Golf Association website*
{{Coord, 38.1148, -122.6516, type:landmark_region:US-CA_source:enwiki-googlemaplink, display=title
Parks in Marin County, California
Regional parks in California