Trinity National Park in California

This year, I had a 2 week stay-cation in California, in San Jose. I had travelled a lot earlier in summer, so was done with any more hectic travels plans. And so we went on an easy 5 day trip to Trinity National Park. We wanted to have a relaxed time as we had already visited all the tourist places nearby. And it turned out to be exactly as we wanted. Living close to nature, walking, boating, swimming in the lakes and just taking in the fresh air which we miss so much in the city. Slowly and slowly, I am warming up to relaxed vacations too...

Lake Lewiston near Trinity
national park

We decided on Trinity national park when we were looking for the closest large green areas close to San Jose. And Shashta and Trinity national parks fit the bill. They were huge, green and close enough. It was still a long drive to get there, took us half a day which got longer with the breaks we took in between. The drive there to be honest was quite average - most of the time we were on highways, with only non-descript towns on the sides. It was very hot everywhere and the grass was all yellow on all sides. So nothing much to admire. We stopped to have lunch at Priya's in the town of Redding, which again felt like a lacklustre town.

Once we got off the highway and into Trinity park area, the vegetation all around got a lot greener and the views interesting. Both sides we saw green and dense forests with some small lakes coming into view once in a while. We stopped at one of the larger lakes - Whiskeytown- which extended till forever. It was a nice stop and we saw some people enjoying water sports in the lake.

Our resort was next to Lewiston lake and the last town we crossed was the town of Lewiston. It was barely a town, with some 5-6 houses and a few shops, a petrol station and grocery store. We should have stopped there to shop as it closed soon after we reached our cabins. And we were left with no way to buy regular groceries 😆.

We were staying in small cabins at Lakeview Terrace Resort, located on the banks of Lake Lewiston. The resort had a lot of these individual cabins of different sizes, all spaced out along a side of the hill amid trees. Some of the cabins get views of the lake also from in between the trees. There was also a swimming pool but overall the whole place was quite rustic and had minimum facilities. To be honest, our first impression of the resort felt a bit underwhelming, but as we settled into our cabin, we realised it was perfect. There was a kitchen, a living area and multiple bedrooms. The rooms were simple but well stocked.

Each of the cabins also had a huge outside seating area with barbeque options and a few benches, to cook outside but also sit and relax away from everything. It was so natural that deer and small birds would just come by the cabin as if on their daily stroll. The sleep we got there everyday was one of the best in a long time, it was so calm and quiet, it felt amazing.

The owners of the cabins were new, and even though they did not know much about the area around, they helped with whatever they could. They were also very comfortable and casual, running around their children in the resort. Felt so charming and non business-like 😊.

So when we reached, we realised we couldn't really cook anything as we hadn't bought the food stuff that was required. So we had a simple meal and called it a day soon enough, after taking a walk along the lake and back.

The weather was hot during the days and only the evenings were cooler and more tolerable. So we planned our days like that for the next few days. We went out to Lewiston lake or nearby to Trinity park, but tried to be out in the mornings, take a break and sleep in the hot afternoons and then go out for walks or some activity again in the evenings.

Cooper Budge trail

We spent one whole day and one evening around the Lewiston lake itself. One of the evenings, we just drove 5 mins from our resort to a small little trail called Cooper Budge which went through the forests all along the lake . It was a long and well marked trail, surrounded by green trees on both sides. The path was quite wide and easy enough to walk through. Sometimes it went near the lake and sometimes a bit far. We walked there for a couple of hours. The water in the lake was too cold though to go into, even though it was warmer outside. Apparently there are two layers of water, at different temperatures. The water on top is warmer, but under it is cold as its the water released from the Trinity lake through the dam at the other end. Anyways it didn't seem like the lake could have been a popular swimming area.

One of the days, we spent on Lewiston lake. We had seen people in boats fishing there everyday. There is a marina along the road from our resort which is full of small trailer houses which felt like holiday cabins. They also had rental boats there and we took one of the patio boats which was a huge one and can seat up to 6 people. So we spent the next 4 hours floating on the lake, first boating till one end towards the dam, then all the way with the engine shut, downstream to the other dam. And then back to the marina. It was quite a long lake and you could easily be on it for hours, admiring the peace and beauty around.

Lewiston lake

The water was sometimes blue, sometimes brown and sometimes green. It was very clear everywhere and at some places near the middle, was so shallow that it was dangerous to take the patio boat there. It was so clear that you could even see the rocks at the bottom and the fish swimming around. And all around, it was all very green and silent. There were trees of all shades all along the hills and their reflections in the water looked amazingly stunning in the sun.

Lewiston lake

There were loads of people fishing on the lake. And some were boating. For us, it was as lazy a day as it could get. My dad swam in the water even though it was a mix of hot and cold water. And the cold was very cold. Anyways, we kept drifting along in the boat, played cards, slept and essentially just lived on the boat for 4 hours 😊.

Lake in Trinity Park

One of the other days, we went to Trinity park which was right next to where we were. We were going for a trail to Sonnars lake based on directions given by our owner but it was a bit of a fail. But the day was still fun. We drove a long way and stopped at our first lake on the way, which was a smaller one but with warmer water. My dad swam there and we sat on its bank snacking in the sun. It had got too hot in the afternoon, so we were trying to spend our time under the shade as much as possible.

Another lake on the way

There were a few more lakes on the way which were full of people. Some of them had water sports going on, and in some, people were fishing, surfboarding, boating etc.. We also drove a long way along the Trinity lake. It was a bigger lake and goes on forever. There were even waves in the lake, signifying how huge it was.

Non-veg plants on Sonnars trail

We passed by some towns - Trinity centre, Coffee creek - on the way which are full of people who stay here and are not just tourists, which I found surprising. But overall the park felt mostly empty with very few people. Our plan was to go on the Sonnars lake trailhead, all the way up to the lake in the mountains but we never reached it. I think we got on the right path but the road up to the trailhead wasn't great. So even though we drove for 30 mins, we never reached there and were worried about driving there. So we just walked a bit on the road and came back without ever finishing the trail.

Overall, this side of the forest was more green, denser and felt fresher than the Lewiston side. It had a different vegetation, of pine trees and cones were strewn everywhere. The height of the park also slowly increased, from 2500 ft to 3500 ft, which made the weather also cooler as we kept driving higher. Compared to the other days, it was more cloudy and hence a lot easier to be outside. Also interestingly, the mud in the park varied a lot - it was red sometimes, yellow due to sand and sometimes black.

River at Trinity Alps resort

While coming back, we stopped at one of the resorts - Trinity Alps resort - on the way which was next to a river and looked like a fun place to stay. It was greener, was at a height, had higher mountains around it and was cooler. Definitely a place to go to next time.

And then, it was time to get back to city life. We drove back most of the day to San Jose and the drive was boring as usual. We did stop at an outlet mall on the way - the Vaccaville outlet mall. And it was good to shop there, it was better than the Gilroys we went to near San Jose.

Overall, places Like Trinity National Park which are not on major tourist maps are great to visit without the stress of tick marking any places. There are very few people around, mostly locals and time slows down here - a watch has no place in these parts of the world. Its a place where people come in for fishing, and just while away the day. The weather was not ideal when we went there, it was hot during the day, cooler in morning and night. But overall, another very peaceful and relaxed time off, just being close to nature and being...