Clearlake City of

I really can’t do much more for Clear Lake than 3 stars. And that includes the town of the same name roughly along CA 29.
Clear Lake is a large lake about 100 miles north of San Francisco Bay, between US 101 to the west and I-​5 to the east. It’s nice, but not beautiful. It seems geared to boaters and fishermen, though there are funky cottage and cabin rentals at the various towns around the lake with water slides, swimming platforms, and whatnot.
Konocti Harbor was near here, with a hotel, a conference center, and a concert venue where one would find the stars of their childhood once they went AARP. They seemed to be here … or at the Silver Legacy in Reno. Konocti, probably the best known name on the lake, has closed its doors.
The area is eerily quiet and Lake County is known for its economic and social problems. In a way, it’s another California altogether. Some people are just scraping by and others are living in small homes on clustered streets near the lake’s edge found here and there. The latter remind me of down-​market Desert Hot Springs, but with oaks and pines, along with a more benign climate.
There is food, drink, lodging, shopping, and even an Indian casino down in Middletown, CA, south of town. But the food is Dairy Queen, Jack-​in-​the-​Box, and McDonald’s, there are in fact some local food places that are decent though one has to ask around, shopping consists of a big WalMart, complete with its own traffic light, and a casino the likes of Twin Pines down the road is not my idea of a good time.
Basically, it’s interesting to look at if driving out of the Napa Valley, along which CA 29 is the main highway, and then continuing north if heading toward Oregon or Washington. For basic recreation and less sensory overload, such as having to play armchair psychologist as to what is happening in the area, I recommend Lakes Nacimiento and San Antonio in the Coastal Range, inland from Hearst Castle, more so than I do Clear Lake.

I visited Clearlake a few months ago and loved the place so much that I bought a house there and moved. I have found the people to be friendly and charming and the pace of life to be very laid back. You can absolutely steal a house here and there is a lot to do, particularly if you enjoy the outdoors. I find the towns to be very quaint. For the person who did not find any beaches, I found several right away. I did not find the people to be «dumb» or backward and I have several degrees. I understand that more business has come in in the last few years and the town has cleaned up a lot.

Clear lake, the town we all love to hate. But I love it more than I hate it. Yes the lake is in a desperate state right now but it’s not the end for it. The town was once a thriving vacation destination. Did you know that calistoga’s motto used to be «the gate way to lake county». Lake county still has a lot of potential in my opinion and all it takes is one small thing to breathe fresh air into a dwindling town. I love living here ! If you don’t like it, more power to you and have fun down there in the lowlands. Lake county is home.

The City of Clearlake is a good down to earth town and it has shopping and restaurants and the town continues to clean up it’s act and attracts new business as an attractive place to do business and shop.

this place is truly «eek! methinks not». i went here yesterday for my first time to experience the «many beaches» that the town/​lake has to offer its visitors. the website for the town/​lake ensured that there were many beaches, and after i drove 3 hours to get there, so excited to experience the lake on such a nice, sunny day, i don’t see any beaches whatsoever. all that was there were private docks and many, many boat ramps. i asked about at about three different places, which brings yet another story on! i walked into a super-​run down hotel «lobby» which was more just like a tiny room with a desk, and immediately was knocked out by the rancid, strong as hell, smell of indian something. i’m not a racist at all, but it is a fact that some of their bodies (or food, i couldn’t figure out what it was!) are very pungent and overcome with strong odors. i asked the man who was running the first run-​down hotel i stopped at and he seemed to have no idea where the beaches were. he just told us of one park across the street that offered a muddy, under-​construction, full of low-​life drunken people, view of the lake. no thanks! i then stopped at a place that was supposedly a tourist information spot, and spoke with a lady there who seemed to be a bit annoyed that i didn’t know the area at all, but she told me of a long-​stretch beach just a few miles down the road. when i went to drive around and look for it, it was nowhere to be found. i’m sure she just offered that place to me to get me out of there. i then asked at another run-​down hotel that smelled richly of indian something, and the woman there was even worse. by then, i had wanted to find a way back to the freeway to get the heck out of that place, and after asking her where to find it, she offered to sell me a map. ummm, thanks, lady! haven’t you ever been lost before? she also seemed to be a bit annoyed by my questions, but she confirmed that there weren’t any such beaches in the whole vicinity of the lake. i then drove a whole hour around the lake just to get back to the freeway… ugh!
overall, the towns surrounding the lake are extremely run down, full of mobile home areas that are referred to as «resorts», restaurants filled with old, retired people, and extremely shabby hotels.
i am still really confused! i hear of so many people from the bay area going to clearlake for a holiday weekend… and what for?! next time, i’ll head to russian river, save on big time drives, and enjoy the nice beaches/​rest areas that place has to offer. :)

I don’t know what happened to this city or town or why, but this place is definitely not a place that others think of when they think of «California».
Focus on the lake… stay away from the locals… they’ll eat your flesh to grab the missing amino acids thats lacking from their diet.