Best deal for natural hot springs on the Central Coast. All day pass for only $10/adult ($8/…read moreseniors and kids). Water flows continuously so no need for chlorine. Strong sulphur smell and algae, just like hanging out at Yellowstone NP. In fact the receptionist said their water is same underwater stream flowing from Yellowstone. We stopped by for an hour on a Tuesday so largely had place to ourselves plus 2 other regulars. Two pools connected to larger pool and a smaller standalone pool overlooking lake. 3 bathrooms for changing, with one shower. Met the owner Norman Franklin (he says he's 7th generation descendant of Benjamin Franklin). Surrounding area not much to look at, can bring own snacks and food to bbq. I didn't know about the hot springs mud so will definitely be back next time I'm in area!

This a local experience. What Yelp would categorize as "local flavor." It was a fun afternoon with…read morethe kids. The water coming out of the pipes is probably 101, but the pool is large so most of the water is around 85-90. There's a sulfur smell because it's water from a natural hot spring. The pool is gravel at the bottom and yes there is some algae. Some ducks joined in on the fun and started swimming in the pool at one point. I took some extra mud from a nice couple who had leftovers and made myself a mud mask. The kids had a blast playing with pool noodles. If you pulled onto the dirt road and saw the casual, rustic sign, kept going, parked in the dirt lot, walked in and got pissed because you didn't get a five star spa experience for $10, that's your bad.

My favorite lake for one my grandpa helped dig out the lake. It was news to me I didn't know it was…read moreman made so now it's my favorite. Yes I camp other places I love the area and it gets very hot wish we had more tree coverage so with that said bring a pop up or two. You never know what kind of wild life you will see and walk hike with caution rattle snakes blend in super good. I made the mistake of brushing my teeth with the water spicket one year so don't do that unless you want to get sick my stupidity. If you like fishing make sure you have a fishing license we went down to the lime one year with a kids like two year old fishing pole and a child hook and some lame person said we had a fish net and called the rangers on us and they all came looking for a net looked in my backpack in my truck in our ice chest in the back of my truck acting like we had done something wrong it was a huge embarrassing moment for them because they came In hot like I was a criminal with my wife and to young kids and the only thing was a trash bag that I collected trash people left around apparently they had a video of this so called net and the ranger told me after looking a this video that they must have mistaken a net for a trash bag. It's was super lame like I understand they have a job todo but the way it was handled in the beginning was not professional with kids around. Other then that I've always have had a great time in the heat we even went when the lake was dried up on the Harris creek side and camping one year and it rained we still had a great time. Yes it's not super party like as year in the past and that's ok you want that behavior drive up the road to the next lake. I wish they still had the little store but that closed up sadly. They need more people camping to get that open again.

First timer and it was a good time! It wasn't crowded and neighbor campers were very nice and kind…read more Easy check in into the lake. We had a big group and accommodated all of our needs. The only thing I wish this lake/campground had were actual bathrooms and some shade. I've read that it was manmade but you would think they would consider building actual restrooms and/or shade even fake trees for shade. Otherwise, the lake was a gorgeous spot and the area was clean. I would definitely come back with other families but be more prepared with shade or head when the weather is slightly cooler lol. Highly recommend when you're in the area!

We woke up at the crack of dawn with anticipation and had such a wonderful time at the Benitoite…read moreMining Company - already planning the next trip. From the moment we arrived, we felt welcomed. Dave and the team were knowledgeable, patient, and genuinely passionate about the history of the mine and the stones. They took time to explain what to look for, how to sift properly, and shared stories about benitoite that made the experience feel special. Our daughter loved meeting the friendly dogs almost as much as she loved digging for gems. The digging itself was exciting for both adults and kids there's something really magical about searching for your own gemstones together. We had so much fun working as a team, comparing finds, and celebrating every little sparkle we uncovered. It's a perfect blend of education, adventure, and hands-on fun. We left with great memories, a few beautiful specimens, and a real appreciation for this unique California gem. Highly recommend for families looking for a memorable, one-of-a-kind outing.

I came here for my birthday to mine some benitoite with my boyfriend and friend. We had such a fun…read moretime. I highly suggest bringing a chair and water. It can get really hot and sweaty. You don't want to be dehydrated. They hand you a ziplock bag and glasses to protect you from the UV light. A ziplock bag is more than enough room for you to store your finds.

Just visited for the day to hike around the lake. The water was pristine and we enjoyed walking…read morearound the grounds, honestly didn't see anyone, maybe people were sleeping in... The few staff we interacted with were helpful, one at the gate gave us a map of the resort and one at the A-frame administrative building told us where to start from where we parked. Gorgeous blue skies and perfect weather today.

It's reasonable. A touch pricey for camping but then you get to say that you are epic so that's…read moreworth it, right? ;-) Got the group campsite nearest the water so we basically had a walkway through the campsite. It was okay. Didn't rent a boat so I have nothing to say about that. We did bring a Blackstone and that was fun. Cooked just about everything on it, including some awesome breakfasts. Got to see more of the fam than per usual. Group site had a number of tables but not much shade so be careful. One nice part was that it was farther away from most other sites.

Ive been here only twice. Its nice towards the end of the day after the crowds are near gone. The…read morewater is swift, so wear water shoes and prepare to keep your balance. Its you agai st the river. For young children, life jackets are a good idea. Its noticeable that a large majority that take park over early on are inconsiderate of nature and could care less if they trash the place. Then there's people who go through the trash cans dumping everything out? Looking for recycles....which is fine, but dont leave the trash on tbe ground...put it back. Low lifes do crap like that. Anyway, the 2nd visit everything got super real as we nearly drowned farther down. I thought I had it under control but when you no longer see rocks, its time to back up before the current pushes you to where you can no longer stand ground. We were swept away about 1/4 mile swimming against the current. Honestly. I believe our crocs helped keep us from becoming too tired. Finally I was able to pull and push my daughter from the left of me around to the right bank where I told her to grab onto branches from a tree submerged in the water. I thought I was a gonner after she had been hanging on me and I was quickly losing my stamina. I was lucky enough to catch branches a few yards down and we both made it. It was traumatizing to say the least and im so thankful we didnt experoence the undertow Ive heard so much about. As traumatizing as it was, I plan on returning, but staying only where river rocks are visible to tbe nakedness eye. Beware going too far be ause it gets deep real fast. Besides that incident, we had a fun time. Be ssfe.

I had high hopes for this park but it is disgusting. Residents leave trash everywhere even though…read morethere are trash cans all around. Cars are driven up to the water even though signs say not to. The county needs to clean up their bathrooms because they are very dirty. Half the people just drive in and don't pay the car fee. All around this place has so much potential but it is lost due to lazy people and even worse, state management.

Bryson Hesperia Unguided hunt: I am not often compelled to…read morewrite yelp reviews, but I feel I should this time because this is a unique type of hunt. One I have been searching for 3 years; a trip that gives a true HUNTING experience, with the scales tipped in our favor.. But, I think it is important to clarify a few things. It goes without saying; you have to question all good and bad ratings. I guess sometimes it comes down to what we expect going in... Did we book the type of trip that we meant to? Do I want a hunting trip or a shopping trip? Funny, I looked at the reviews after booking the trip.. I wonder if some people would have better off asking for a fully guided option? I am writing this because I have booked a few trips for my son when he was 14 thru 15 and we didn't get what we wanted.. Sure, we killed pigs, but not HOW we wanted them. We wanted to HUNT them. Despite trying to get fully guided trips set up as a glassing and stalking hunt, It seems every fully guided trip we booked felt like shopping with a rifle. For my Son's 16th birthday, I found Bryson and after talking with Deedy, it sounded like a fit. My son wanted a true hunting experience, not a killing expedition. For what it is worth, he is an accomplished long distance shooter with match wins against adults under his belt. So the goal was not just squeezing the trigger, but learning scent management, tracking and stalking. From my booking and participating in shared lease properties, I am going to attempt to split pig hunting in California into 3 rough categories. Fully Guided and "Guaranteed", BLM or Club leased hunts (without any guidance) and those with trespassing fees on private property. The most popular, seem to be the fully guided and guaranteed pig hunts (I'll lump trophy hunts into these). The hunts are often sold as 2-1/2 days or until you get a pig. The sole focus seems to be to get the "customer" a pig FAST. Covering a lot of ground and often rustling/wrangling the pigs with the truck or smaller off road vehicle until the guide can position the client to jump out and shoot a pig at close range is the strategy. This to me and my son, felt like an amusement park ride, not really hunting as EVERYTHING is done for you.. If this is what your looking for then don't cheap out and buy the unguided or semi-guided hunting package. Ask for a FULLY guided trip. For those true hunters, people who really know what they are doing, know how to find active pigs, then maybe BLM or a club is a better fit. BLM or club leased property is often were you rely on many personal scouting trips and already really know what your doing or just get stupid lucky. This can be a very humbling experience, if you relying on luck. I've had a share lease, with no pigs all year.. Lastly, for those that know how to handle a firearm, want to hunt not have a glorified shopping experience, but want to tip the scales in your favor, private property with known pig populations are a great blend. But at the end of the day, if you are up wind and/or loud, maybe just are having bad luck, you will not see a pig. If the fresh sign are there, so are they. But after all, it is hunting. This is the challenge we asked for and were looking for.. So we booked the unguided (semi-guided) trip with Bryson Hesperia. So after all this, if you had managed to stay with my rambling, Dede took us us out and gave a quick but highly valuable review of how to spot recent pig actively. The next morning, we saw a lot of pigs and shot a very large one. Deedy taught my son how to process the pig taking a lot of time skinning ect. Soon after, we returned for the evening hunting session were had a couple of other opportunities at close range on large sows. We passed, looking for a bigger boar, (we had a 125qt Yeti cooler already full). Even if we didn't shoot or see pigs, all the signs were there, as Dede said they would be. It was up to us to manage our scent, noise and hunting strategy. If we blew it, we would not have seen much-less came home with a LARGE HOG.

Went turkey hunting in April with 4 friends. It was a semi guided hunt, but Deedy had obviously…read morebeen scouting the area prior and put us in good spots. 3 of the 4 of us got birds. Saw pigs roaming on the property as well, but missed the chance to get one. I plan on going back for turkey, pigs, or both.

I would say the crew was amazing. Extremely helpful and…read morenice. The boat was filled to the max and honestly, it felt very crowded. It was definitely hard to move around which also could've been because there was extra people on the boat that got on the wrong charter boat. I could have done without the smoking. Pretty much every minute of the trip was filled with smoke instead of sea area. We did go on a charter to experience fishing and smell the fresh air. We will not be returning to the though I'm sure that most charters are filled with nonstop people smoking.

Wow! I mean. Wow!!…read more I'm an angler. I fish a lot. By "a lot" I mean every break from work, time to myself, wanna get away and nothing else to do. Well, there's always something else to do. Fishing. A few years ago, an angler friend who drove down to San Diego to fish tuna told me wonderful stories about Morro Bay and the size of the fish they catch up there. He made it sound like the Land of Plenty. We anglers love to tell fishing tales, just look at the length of this review so far, so I took it all with a grain of salt; by salt I mean a good flavorful blackened fish rub. HELLO! After the fishing trip ended, he sent me an invite to join a Facebook group called Friends of the Black Pearl. I accepted the invite because I had just deleted my old FB account because I kept getting put in Facebook Jail, 30 days being able to see posts and comments from everybody else but not able to post or comment myself, TORTURE! People posting and commenting stupid stuff and I couldn't check them. Anyway, what's this review about? Oh yeah. The Black Pearl. I started to see the photos of the fish people caught and thought I myself, hmmm. "6 hour drive in the car by myself. Hotel room by myself. Get some fishing in the next day. Hotel room again by myself. 6 hour drive home by myself." No sooner than I finished the thought, maybe while I was still thinking, I had already booked my first trip and hotel. It was the " by myself" part that did it. What? I love my family. I just need to miss them every now and then. My first trip the weather did not permit the boat to leave the bay due to the extreme conditions. However, three things happened. 1 - We were still able to catch a lot of decent sized fish. Not the monsters I was expecting, but definitely bigger than anything I would have caught in San Diego. 2 - I saw a Captain, Captain Brian, drive a boat with the most skill I've ever seen a Captain display on a day trip. I mean, the sea was rough yet he was able to keep us on the rock pile so we could keep fishing. I had never seen such a thing. I didn't even know it was possible in such high surf and wind. 3 - I met and bonded with the most exceptional crew ever. From Gambit preparing amazing means then handling the rails deck handing with best of them to the other deck hands making sure tangles were immediately addressed and angler had the time they paid for. It was like 4 star hotel hospitality training. Amazing!! However, I didn't see the huge fish I was promised. Then that's when I learned the term "Jurassic Park". Turns out that when the sea conditions permit, the boat is able to leave the harbor and sail to the coast of Big Sur. With that information etched in my brain, I scheduled a 1.5 day and did the drive and hotel thing again a few months later. This time... We made it! OMG!! Monsters!! Now with monsters come tangles because you're fishing so deep and let's face it, the fish you hook are fighting for their lives and don't come straight up. They're swimming all over the place in their panic and wrap themselves around other anglers' lines in their fight for survival. The harder they fight the more fun I'm having. " Yeah Baby! You better fight if you wanna avoid this beer batter and hot grease. Fight like your life depends on it!! It does!" I crack myself up. Since I've been fishing this boat, I've joined a few sponsored trips, made a huge amount of friends, caught lots of fish and even taken my son and best friend to fish with me. I don't even bother to fish rock fish in San Diego anymore. I've experienced the boat's new remodel, new crew members, I've even enjoyed Lisa's fine cuisine on every trip. Oh! Didn't I mention that? Lisa, the boat owner, specially prepares the meals at home for every trip. So you don't just get boat burgers, you get real food. I'm talking brisket and pulled pork sandwiches. Hot dogs with home made pickles, pickled cabbage and sour kraut. Potato salad (), baked beans and so on. A different meal every time. Today, a trip on the Black Pearl has become my happy place. When I need a break or just want to fill my freezer, or even just wanna see Gambit, Captain Brian and the crew again, I plan this time for myself. As an experienced angler, it's really not about catching fish, it's about the experience while fishing. Check out these photos over my years on the Pearl.

This park is gorgeous. There is plenty of space to explore and have a picnic. There is also a lot…read moreof great wildlife like peacocks, ducks, and Jack rabbits. This is definitely a picturesque place to relax and enjoy nature. It started to rain the day we went, but next time I'd love to stay and enjoy the outdoors a bit longer.

Love this park it has the best scenery in Tulare! Love making new memories here, very quiet and…read morepeaceful, love how everyone enjoys themselves here.

Peaceful, this State Park was very, very quiet. No one else really talking to other people we…read morewould jump up whenever someone caught a fish we clapped or they clapped when it was us. We didn't do good at all over here. We only caught one catfish. But for us just to get away we had a nice time again. I was able to let my husband fish and I sat back and read a book. But there was one part of this state park that I was able to see a few young fawns. And he or she was so beautiful. I dared not to get closer for a fear of seeing the doe somewhere close. I wish the state of California would get it together we have state parks that need to be cleaned. Just dead trees everywhere that needs to be cleaned up.

Amazing spot to fish with the kids! Lots of shade, and peaceful. It's also a great spot to take…read moreyour kayaks out where the water is not moving swiftly. During the week the entry fee is usually free, weekends about $9 for the day pass.

After visiting the Central Coast Zoo, we decided to walk over to the park located just outside, and…read moreit was the perfect follow-up activity. There's a large area to walk around, and you're even able to feed the ducks, which my daughter absolutely loved. She had so much fun on the jungle gyms, slides, and all the playground features available. If you're visiting the Central Coast Zoo, I highly recommend taking the kids to the park afterward to burn off some energy. You can easily make it a full day--visit the zoo, head to the park, feed the ducks, and just immerse yourself in nature. It was a beautiful day and hands down the perfect after-zoo activity. Next time, I'll definitely remember to bring snacks!

Water birds, fish and turtles live in the park. The lake is large with a scenic drive. Make sure to…read morego slow. The park has multiple spots to park your car. The entry is free. - Some locations have direct water access. Others are higher up so you can take photos. There is exercise/playground equipment for use and shade in some locations. - The park holds multiple events each year including Pride. I like having this location as a community staple.