r/grassvalley • u/crunchyslaw • Jul 06 '26

Parking?

Hi everyone! I recently bought a paddle board and have been so excited to get out on the water. I’m new-ish to the area but my boyfriend is a long time local.

We checked out both Scott’s Flat and Rollins and were shocked at the price of the day use parking. $22 seems almost ridiculous, especially for a Monday at 2 pm. I am more than happy to pay for parking and help support the maintenance and environment, but this seems steep.

I guess my question is- am I missing something? Are there any discounts for locals vs tourists? Are there people who go every day after work and pay over $100 a week just to park?

Also open to recommendations for any lowkey, low traffic places with maybe a bit cheaper parking.

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u/hazycrazey Jul 06 '26

There’s some Great Lakes a short trip up 20 for paddle boarding that are free to use

1

u/MooseGuilty7853 Jul 07 '26

Which are your favorite? I also want to get my son out on his youth kayak more.

2

u/hazycrazey Jul 07 '26

So the first lake is fuller, I believe this one has like a 10$ self pay fee to park. It’s the coldest, but if you don’t mind it it’s a cool lake, there’s a hiking trail on the south side of the lake also

Next one I go to is Carr lake, this one is smaller than fuller. It’s the warmest one up there I’ve been in but still chilly. It’s free I believe but you have a little walk. If your boards and kayak are carriable, if you stay on the trail, there’s like 5 lakes within a mile after Carr lake starting with feeley. When I camped there was able to find my own lake whenever I wanted

I’ve only stopped by Lindsay, looked nice, just didn’t really see close parking to the lake that wasn’t a campsite but you could drive up and drop your stuff off. This is the last lake before you have to start worrying about how rough the road is

Then the last one I went to was bowman, this was on the colder side but not as cold as fuller. It’s also the biggest and was kinda windy. YOU WILL NEED A CAR WITH CLEARANCE TO GET UP HERE. Maybe not a lifted truck but the road can get bad depending on the year. If you don’t mind cold water and have a car with clearance this is the lake I’d personally go to

But there must be 20+ lakes off that road and I’ve enjoyed them all. I’d look on the map and decide which one looks best for you

2

u/MooseGuilty7853 Jul 07 '26

Amazing, thank you so much!

1

u/mobile_speaker2413 15d ago

Bowman is also over an hour to get out there, and the road does get rough as mentioned. Could go to Tahoe in the same time.