![]() As we moved along, Mike told us some of the geology of the area, and made some hiking suggestions. Because we'd had so much rain, there were several cascades tumbling down into the lake Mike said it had been years since they'd had waterfalls. It can be tough to spot a juvenile eagle in a tree, but worth the effort! The whole lake shore was beautiful, and we saw various waterfowl also: grebes, cormorants, mergansers, and Canada geese. The hills are boulder-strewn (they are the foothills of the Sierra Nevada), and dotted with oak and pine trees. We've had drought for several years, but plentiful rain this winter, and the rolling hills around the lake were green. We saw plenty to satisfy our desire, and had lots of time to take pictures.Ģ017 was a perfect time to visit Millerton Lake. We plied the waters of the lake, sometimes fairly quickly (we went out in a smaller patrol boat, not the pontoon boat, because the group was so small), and stopped when someone spotted something that might be an eagle. Both rangers were friendly and approachable, and Paul was also great at spotting eagles from the boat. Mike is very knowledgeable, and was happy to share his expertise, such as how to tell a juvenile eagle's age. ![]() Mike has been leading these tours since they started, over 30 years ago! With just two of us, we got to ask lots of questions we love learning about any number of topics. Our two ranger guides were Paul, who drove the boat, and Mike, the bird expert. ![]() We lucked out, as my husband and I were the only ones on our Sunday morning's tour. Of course, there is no guarantee that you will see bald eagles, but we had no problem finding them, and other birds. (It is worth more than that!) The tours begin with a slide presentation, and then you spend about 3 hours out on the lake, looking for bald eagles. The tours run from December through mid-March on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and currently cost $20 per person. The tour is run by two park rangers, and can take up to 25 people out on Millerton Lake on a pontoon barge. We'd read that Millerton Lake had the highest concentration of bald eagles wintering over in central CA. We recently booked the Millerton Lake Bald Eagle Tour with the CA State Park service. He was more concerned with ruining our day which he succeeded to do. He The rude "host" should have been paying attention to the loose dogs down by the waterand broken bottles all over the place which we picked up when we got there. we were given a map, perhaps that should have been given at the gate. so is the fee for the campground or per car? We were told to pack up and move or a forrest ranger would come and move us.we had to throw away our hot dogs and move just around the corner.The host was on a power trip, was rude and not nice at all. We paid $30.00 total if you count each of our cars, which is ten more than to camp. There were No other campers as far as you could see and this was at 2pm in the afternoon. We told the guy at the gate we wanted to picnic and he charged us ten bucks each. 3 Kids under 5 playing in sand, two sets of grandparents and Mom and Dad,we were putting hot dogs on the barbQ, having fun feeding the little ground squirrels when an old man came over and started yelling that we only paid ten dollars and this was a campground, not a picnic area (although the sign said picnic was ok). We found the signs confusing but decided on a spot that said we could picnic. And as the water level drops, so does whatever beauty and charm it has. Also, once the green grass/vegetation dies out, the lake is not pretty esthetically pleasing. But those that I know have say they really like it. I haven’t done the RV camping or stayed at the camp sites on the north side of the lake. Yes, there are bald eagles if you take your boat upstream the San Joaquin River. Pincushion trail is a local favorite and is harder than it looks. There are some nice hiking and mountain biking trails that line the southern part of the lake. It’s also very easy to launch your boat and park your car. It is still “boatable” in the late summer months when the water level drops. It’s a decent sized lake for water skiing, tubing, fishing…. During springtime, like most California lakes, is green and beautiful. What I like about it is its proximity to Fresno.
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