By TIM WILCOX
Special to the Alpine Mountaineer
Where: Crestline
Length: 2.6-mile loop
Elevation gain: 24 feet
Challenge: easy
The scenic shoreline pathway around Lake Gregory offers one of the mountains’ most enjoyable strolls. Because it’s wide and mostly level, this route is more of a walk than a hike. Of course, it can be the latter if you push yourself beyond your casual, everyday gait. It’s simply a matter of pace.
What about parking? Adjacent to the town’s principal intersection, the main beach lot charges a few dollars. There’s no attendant. Instead, an electronic kiosk offers several ways to pay, including a QR code. (This time of year, the lot isn’t carefully monitored.) You also can park for free on Lake Drive less than one-tenth of a mile beyond the lot’s entrance. Your call. . .
Hikers on the trail are Romina Caceres (left), Trevis Loosbrock and Belen Caceres. Romina, Belen’s sister, is from Los Angeles. Trevis and Belen live in Crestline. Their canine companions are Bruno (left) and Remi.
On the trail
Once you’ve secured your vehicle, head east on the trail for a clockwise transit of the lake. Walk by a maintenance-facility driveway until you come to an offshoot leading down to the lake past a handful of stout Ponderosa pines. Soon you’ll be ambling along just above the water, tracing the shoreline for several tenths of a mile.
After you pass the “under renovation” restrooms, the pathway narrows. Then it ascends to a level that runs parallel with Lake Drive. Moments later you’ll be walking over the lake’s original dam, which was finished nearly 90 years ago. Up ahead and across the street is a boulder resting in an open area that’s actually the top of the new, much larger and stronger dam. A plaque on the big rock reads: “LAKE GREGORY DAM. Established 1937, renovated 2019 and rededicated April 26, 2019.”
Back on the trail, you’re steps away from the far northeastern tip of the lake. Now the trail turns rightward and follows the shore’s nearly straight line to the south for more than half a mile. The initial stretch, inches above water level, is the trail’s lowest point. Then the path rises and falls gently, winding past and above stands of water shrubbery, until you come to the Crest Forest Senior Citizens Club.
There, beyond the parking lot, is a field that for many years was anchored by a baseball diamond. During the construction of the new 100-foot dam, which began in March 2018, it was covered with an unsightly mound of excavation soil. Now it’s an expansive, grass-covered space for family and friends to play football, soccer, Frisbee or whatever their leisure sport of choice might be.
Here, too, the trail expands to its widest segment before crossing a sandy channel with narrow streams of water running into the lake. No worries, though; you can easily step or jump over the rivulets.
The San Moritz Lodge lies to the left. The trail, though, turns right. Follow its winding course to the northwest and then west through an area that in decades past was much more thickly forested. But in recent years, many of the enormous pines and firs fell victim – literally – to a devastating invasion of voracious bark beetles. Still, the surviving trees give this area a sense, at least, of bygone alpine serenity.
Just south of the lake’s far northeastern point and the new dam, the trail is only inches above the water.
The dog park located just before the lake’s largest public lot is not known for its serenity, though the barking is usually intermittent. When you pass that facility, take the pathway to the right at lake’s edge. (It’s more scenic than the parking lot.) Here during summer, you’d witness a collection of polychrome inflatables provided especially for children. Those huge “aqua toys” are currently in hibernation somewhere.
OK, step away from the lake for a few minutes, walking on the trail next to San Moritz Drive. At the stop sign, turn right and proceed past the public library and grocery store on the left to the main intersection. Turn right again at the stop sign and, moments later, you’ll have completed Lake Gregory’s full 2.6-mile circuit.
NOTES: It’s always refreshing to stroll along or hike the shoreline of this 84-acre alpine lake. Because the trail is wide and well maintained, families will discover that it’s both stroller- and young-hiker friendly. Ten exercise stations along the way provide calorie-burning opportunities for more ambitious hikers.
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