Lopez Lake Recreation Area

One of the top choices for camping and leisure trips. With 22 miles of shoreline and summer lake temperatures around 70°, there is something for everyone; camping, fishing, boating, skiing, sailing, windsurfing, picnicking, hiking and equestrian trails, mountain biking, canoeing, birdwatching and so much more. Many visitors to the Central Coast make Lopez Lake their staging area for visits to wineries, golf courses, historic sites, and Hearst Castle. The warm climate of the Central Coast makes Lopez Lake the ideal, year-round recreational destination. Once covered by the sea, the surrounding hills of Lopez Lake are rich with relics of ancient days and studded with oak trees. Over 175 species of flowering plants, and more than 150 species of birds have been identified within the park. The naturally beautiful canyons were once hunting and fishing grounds for the Chumash Indians. Later homesteaders and ranchers inhabited the area and harvested grain crops for Mission San Luis Obispo. Lopez Lake was then created in 1969 to provide domestic water for the Five Cities area of the Central Coast.