Lake Almanor - Geography

Geography

The lake-front and immediate surroundings are, either officially or unofficially, divided into a series of regions:

• North Shore typically referring to the north-east shoreline and the campground of the same name.
• The Peninsula being the major east-side peninsula bisecting the lake and largely taken up by the Lake Almanor Country Club, the community of Almanor, and the more recent residential developments known as Bailey Creek and Foxwood.
• Hamilton Branch being the east-side community next south from the Peninsula, named for the river of the same name.
• East Shore being both the developed and undeveloped areas between Hamilton Branch and the dam itself.
• Canyon Dam, the community just southeast of the dam.
• South Shore, the southwest shoreline taken up largely by PG&E managed campgrounds and undeveloped grounds;
• Prattville being the small resort community on the southwest shoreline; retains the same name as the town that was once in Big Meadows (now under water).
• West Shore being on the upper southwest shore and more formally referred to as Lake Almanor West, itself an un-gated country-club.
• The generally nameless western shoreline from Lake Almanor West to the town of Chester, starting at Goose Bay and ending at the termination of the large diversion channel that mitigates high-waters in the Feather River above Chester.
• The northern shoreline from Chester, running northeast then southwest, and back to Hwy 36; includes the mouth of Benner and Last Chance creeks and seasonal springs.

Much of the southern shore of the lake is in the Lassen National Forest, so recreation management is shared by PG&E and the United States Forest Service.

Large areas along the northern shore of the lake are seasonal pasture used for summer and fall cattle grazing; some areas of these grazing grounds are under-water in wetter years. The wetlands at the north end also serve as breeding grounds for a variety of migratory waterfowl, most prominently Canadian Geese and various species of ducks including mallard, teal, and wigeon. Other large birds to be viewed around the lake are heron, osprey, and occasionally bald eagles, which nest on the Peninsula and West Shore. Each year in late June and early July, large insect hatches occur on the lake during the dusk hours. The insects, which the fish feed on, attract local fly fisherman who use imitation flys to catch the feeding fish.

The Almanor Basin Watershed Advisory Committee Group (ABWAC) received funding for a Watershed Assessment Project under California Prop 12, and one deliverable from this project was in an online map-based database of watershed information that runs in Google Earth - download the tour at: http://www.sierrainstitute.us/Almanorvirtualtour.html