Eagle Lake, CA

We wanted to start this leg in our journey to the Pacific NW with a stop at one of our most favorite places to camp...Eagle Lake.

The south shore of Eagle Lake, and Merrill Campground, is approximately 16 miles north of Susanville and 105 miles north of Reno, NV.

Eagle Lake is located at the juncture of four major geologic provinces. To the west and south is the Sierra Nevadas, a giant mountain range formed by tectonic uplifting along the edge of the continental plate. To the west and north are the Cascade Mountains, which run through California, Oregon, and Washington, and up into Canada. This mountain range is volcanic in origin, but is also a result of a clash between the Pacific and continental plates. Eagle Lake is located within the Great Basin and the semi-arid lands to it’s east are known as the Modoc Plateau. Long ago the area was inhabited by many different groups of Native Americans, including the Hat Creek, Mountain Maidu, Valley Maidu, Paiute, and Pit River, all of whom hunted and fished at Eagle Lake.

Eagle Lake was created by the melting of glaciers during the last ice age and is the second largest natural lake in California. It covers more than 22,000 acres and has over 100 miles of shoreline. The lake sits in a closed drainage basin with no outlet and only limited surface water flowing into it.

Merrill is the largest campground on Eagle Lake with 173 sites and is only two miles from the Marina and Gallatin Beach. It was renovated in 2005 and now offers full and partial hook-ups, grey water dump areas and longer, wider parking spurs. We can accommodate anyone’s needs. The new sites will hold the largest of RV’s to tents and everything in between. This is a great family campground with easy access to the rest of Eagle Lake Recreation Area via the paved hiking and biking trail.