Lake Gregory reports good summer numbers

By Mike Harris
Special to the Alpine Mountaineer

A hot summer produced good visitor numbers for Lake Gregory Regional Park/ Lake Gregory Co. Manager Nathan Godwin stressed there were no serious injuries to visitors or staff.

“Summer 2024 was really good,” he summarized. “We always say we are a sunny day business and this year we had a sunny-day summer. June was nice, July hot as expected and August as well.”

Godwin said the lake saw more than 69,000 visitors this summer. The lake’s beaches and swim area opened for Memorial Day weekend and closed right after Labor Day weekend.

“That’s a strong visitor number for us. We had a lot of visitors come up from the valley, with many families coming up to get out of the heat,” he said.

And, there were no major incidents.

Godwin said the company’s policy (Lake Gregory Co. is the lake’s concessionaire for county Regional Parks) is proactive when it comes to visitors swimming at Lake Gregory or renting any of the lake’s boats.

“For example, we train our lifeguards to recognize potential problems before they become real problems,” he explained. “We say, don’t wait on them to start drowning. We train how to watch for potential problems. If a swimmer starts struggling, we tell our lifeguards to get out on the paddle boards at each lifeguard station to go out and offer them a ride. It’s a preemptive save. We started that policy right from the beginning.”

Lake Gregory Co. also issues anyone going on the inflatable waterpark toys a sport-type floating vest to wear.

“With the inflatable waterpark, some of the toys out there are big, so we have to have them in deeper water, a minimum of 12 feet deep,” he said. “The vests are mandatory. We want our guests to be safe and enjoy themselves.”

New to the water park this year was a log roll.

“It was very popular,” he said. “It was very challenging, and few made it across.”

Godwin said part of the secret to guests having a good experience at the lake is to hire good people.

“Our staffing was just excellent,” he said. “We hire a person with the right attitude, and we can train for the rest. When the staff is happy, our guests are happy.”

Most of Lake Gregory’s staff is local. Lake Gregory’s employees typically live between Running Springs and Cedarpines Park.

Staff ages range between 18 to 30, and the average age is creeping up, “although we still hire a few who are still in high school.”

Summer staffing numbers are around 100 employees, which drops to around 30 employees the rest of the year.

Lake Gregory offers around 20 kayaks and maybe 20 paddleboards.

“We’ll probably buy new kayaks next year, maybe buy direct from a manufacturer to get a better price,” he said.

Fishing also was strong in 2024, with plenty of fish stocking, mostly rainbows. The lake also holds small-mouth bass and catfish.

This year Lake Gregory Co. added a new patrol boat. “Our old patrol boat sank in the last heavy storm and was not repairable,” he said. Last year, the lake added swan paddle boats, which proved popular.

Also popular this summer were the youth organization discounts.

“I found the idea of youth organization discounts when I was going through fees that other parks charge,” he said. “We do discounts for youth organizations. And it’s a pretty good discount, right at 50 percent as a youth group. It’s intended for youth groups and their chaperones. Scout trips, church youth groups and we have a couple of special days for kids at Valley of Enchantment Elementary School.”

Management received some complaints this year about visitors or residents seeing dead fish floating in the lake.

Godwin said he was able to work with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) to try and figure out if something was killing the fish.

“We talked with DFW and they were happy to help us,” he said. “They were able to send samples up to UC Davis. What researchers told us was that they couldn’t find anything killing the fish, and that the fish were just dying of old age.”

Algae has been another problem, something that Lake Gregory, as well as other lakes, experience.

“This summer, we in effect got two years of algae in one year,” he said. “The lake water was really warm. We have an advisory on our website and, basically, we try to send folks up to the San Bernardino County Regional Parks webpage. They explain about algae and cautions.”

The website says, 

CUCAMONGA-GUASTI & LAKE GREGORY LAKES ALGAE NOTICE: 

Both lakes at Cucamonga-Guasti and Lake Gregory are under a Caution level. Children & pets must be kept away from the algae. Any fish caught, guts and fillets need to be thoroughly washed prior to cooking. For more info on Algal Blooms, visit parks.sbcounty.gov/algal-blooms-faqs.

“They explain it better than we can,” Godwin said. “When we get a complaint, we try to educate the person calling. Our lake gets tested multiple times a week. That includes county testing, Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board, even DWR.”

Godwin said he and his staff are already planning for next year.

“We still have some fun things left for folks to do, such as our two free dog parks, and the 2.4-mile loop trail, the skate park and tennis courts, which also are free. Fishing is year-round, and our bait and tackle shop stays open year-round. Our activities don’t stop just because the swim season is over.”