Cold Springs Cabin
Dates: June 25-27, 2021
Stayed in an Airbnb in Cold Springs, CA
We’ve camped at Pinecrest Lake many times and have enjoyed it so much, we wanted to bring Harley. There’s so much to celebrate around this time; our wedding anniversary is June 8, Jon’s birthday is June 20, Father’s Day is the same weekend, and then my birthday is July 9.
This year, we decided no presents. Let’s just get back out into nature. I wasn’t exactly ready to take Harley camping, so we compromised and got an Airbnb near the lake.
The views from our Aibnb cabin were amazing.
It was so peaceful on the huge balcony. Of course, Jon knocked out right when we got there.
It had three floors, and way too many bedrooms for our little family of 3. The basement floor was a huge game room, with it’s own bar, bedroom and bathroom.
We planned to go mountain biking while we were here. I wanted to try out the Sugar Pine Railway Trail. But when we woke up, Harley had the sniffles. We think she had allergies (I definitely did too), so we thought it’d be best not to bike on dirt trails. We ended up just biking around the neighborhood of our Airbnb.
But we couldn’t complain. The neighborhood was full of tall trees, and lots of fun little hills.
Pinecrest Lake
Since we didn’t spend an entire day biking, we were able to enjoy the lake for two days! The first day, we stayed at the lake’s “beach” area, which is perfect for little kids. We’ve always camped here off-season and I thought because we were further into the wilderness, we could just take our time waking up and get to the lake in the afternoon. I was wrong. Daytime use parking was A MESS! It took Jon probably an hour to find a parking spot.
Despite the summer crowds, I was quickly reminded how much I love this lake. It’s just breathtaking. The water is cold but the views are amazing. And there’s something for everyone:
A sandy “beach” with shallow lake areas
Boat rentals
Outdoor movie nights
Small grocery store
Showers/bathrooms
Restaurant
Paved bike trails throughout the campgrounds
Souvenir store with floaties, towels, etc
During the summer, there’s even food trucks!
But we made the most of it. We found a decent spot to unpack. We brought this popup beach tent, which was PERFECT for an overcrowded beach. It gives just enough privacy while also being open for the views.
Pinecrest Lake Day 2
We decided to spend our second day at the lake trying to get a boat. It didn’t look promising, but they told us to come back in the afternoon, as they had one available at that time. Totally worth it. Even though I don’t fish anymore (since I became vegan), it was fun to use the boat to get away from the crowds. We packed some food and drinks in a cooler and set out to find a nice lunch spot. Harley knocked out as soon as we got in the boat.
So many spots were already taken. We finally found a decent spot but it was super rocky (not ideal for toddler). We made it work somehow and the payoff was worth it. We set up our Neso wind tent (genius) and had a fabulous lunch with a view.
On the way back, Harley knocked out again. She must’ve enjoyed the swaying, the loud motor, and the sounds of the water hitting the boat. It was definitely relaxing.
We had such a good time, it was so worth putting up with the crowds. If we ever come back during the summer (and I definitely want to), I would spend time trying to book a reservation to camp on the actual campgrounds. I’d rather wake up right on the lake than waste time looking for parking.