Attractions and Places To See in Lake County - Top 20

Located on Main Street just east of downtown Lower Lake, the Schoolhouse Museum, built in 1877 and restored and opened as a museum in 1993, hosts an interesting collection of local pioneer artifacts. The museum also a collection of Native American artifacts and a rock and mineral display. A restored schoolroom and Victorian Parlor add to the charm and authenticity. Cultural events and art shows take place in the Weaver Auditorium on the second floor. https://www.lakecountyca.gov/333/Schoolhouse-Museum-History https://www.facebook.com/MuseumsOfLakeCountyCa Open Thu - Sat

With its majestic landscapes, diverse wildlife, and a history spanning 14,000 years, Anderson Marsh State Historic Park is the home of the Koi people who were the first humans to colonize the area and who are still there to this day. Their deep cultural heritage prompted the struggles to protect the amazing resources that the park holds. Native inhabitants were pushed out particularly from the 1850s. The Grigsby brothers built a farm here in the mid 1850s. It was purchased by Scottish immigrant Anderson in 1885 whose descendants sold it in the 1960s to become a state park. https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=483 Guides can point out petroglyphs along Mash Trail. To arrange Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association (AMIA) monthly nature walks and ranch tours, visit www.andersonmarsh.org

The Monastery was founded in 1983: 8 monks sustain and grow it with the sale of their amazing mosaics and egg-yolk based frescos and tempera of icons on wood panels: ancient pigments and techniques like 2500 years ago: https://www.gsinai.com It is along gravel trails halfway up the Mt Hannah volcano, more paved but also more hills via Cobb and Herrington Flat road than via Rocky's Road gravel https://www.komoot.com/tour/2718440997 . The generous Orthodox monks insisted to accept lunch, evening service, and to spend the night. On the Eastern Orthodox Julian calendar 🎄Christmas is actually on our January 7th - so we can celebrate it twice 🎉 In collection: https://www.komoot.com/collection/4015057/-california-lake-county

Housed in the historic 1920s library (which moved to a modern large facility across the street) the museum is small with few exhibits yet. Its mission is to preserve and share the local cultural and economic heritage of southern Lake County – both Native American prehistory and the development of critical industries by early European settlers: toll-roads as networks for stage travel, widespread vineyards and wineries, extensive quicksilver mining, and resorts based on clear air and natural springs. Free, donations welcome. Thursday, Friday, Saturday 10am-4pm, but call to make sure. The county website erroneously said Wednesday, which cost me a day ... (707) 809-8009 or https://www.facebook.com/CGibsonMuseumCulturalCenter

While there are no hot springs or other developed spring waters at Ettawa these days, the quiet location on the hillside above the end of the valley is a nice retreat and camp option with modern showers and bathrooms. A trail along the contours to the north actually leads to springs where the resort seems to have tapped and laid pipes for their drinking water supply. They use HipCamp.com for reservations, which is overpriced; it is easier and always space available to just show up. Look for the caretaker at the resort a quarter mile up the road, they almost never come up to the campground.

The hot springs resorts era in this region lasted from 1860s to the 1950s. Today, most are abandoned like Howard Hot Springs, which tried a revival as Avalon Springs Resort but burned and somehow messed up the hot springs flow, never had a major hot source like Ettawa despite its name, or are inaccessibly converted to private properties or retreat centers. The new Avalon owners' application to overwhelm the quiet landscape with 2000 luxury housing developments was fortunately so far rejected in court. The dilapidated compound doesn't even maintain a small pool where the tiny amount of bubbling hot water could be collected.

Harbin Hot Springs is a spiritual grounding place immediately on the first visit to the healing waters and new-age community that took over this idyllic valley in 1972. It all started when a hippie used a sudden inheritance to buy the former health resort and in fact the entire valley, founded the 'Heart-Conscious Church's and attracted a steady stream of spiritual and physical wellness seekers, that enjoy, mostly naked, the natural hot springs, the yoga, massage, and each other. Over time the pools and hotel facilities became fancier, but you could always pop in for a 24 hour soak including free camping, free yoga sessions, various spiritual gatherings, a lively community kitchen, evening movie shows, and much more, all for a small fee. Unfortunately many of the buildings got destroyed by a series of wildfires, mainly the 2015 Valley Fire en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_Fire , and it took years to rebuild. The old charming resident community, temples, etc have not yet returned. But it was heartwarming to see that the pools are restored and improved, camping is still included for free, yoga is slowly returning once a day guided by volunteers, and many of the creative and lovely guests are still coming, even though the expensive reconstruction resulted in a doubling of the entrance prices. Finally biked from the bottom to the top of the large valley entirely owned by Harbin, perfectly rewarded by yoga and three times in one day several long soaks in the various pools, sauna, steam room, and water massage jets. Bliss ♨️

Clear Lake State Park is a popular place for people to come and enjoy the outdoors. In addition to the hiking trails, there's also a swimming beach with showers, a boat launch, and nearly 150 campsites across 4 different campgrounds. There's also a very well presented Visitor's Center that has exhibits on the natural and cultural history of the area, as well as a small fresh water aquarium that maintains some of the fish you might find in the lake.