California's Dazzling Lake Of Sagebrush Solitude Is A High-Country Escape With Rustic Camping And Fishing

In the northernmost reaches of California, straddling an imaginary green border with Oregon, lies a secluded soda lake. Surrounded by marsh grasses, arid watershed, and mountainous wilderness, Goose Lake — California's third-largest lake – hosts sagebrush, ponderosa pine, and wildflowers, along with wildlife and a plethora of migrating birds, creating a tranquil environment. Most of Goose Lake's 144 square miles of open water is on California's side, and much of its 1,100 square-mile watershed sits in Oregon: An expansive, semi-arid basin surrounded by mountains and flanked on the south by Modoc National Forest, extending north into Fremont-Winema National Forest, a basin of volcanic remnants, now a quiet outdoors haven. As a terminal lake or "closed basin," water flows in via streams and runoff, but it has no regular natural outlet and relies on seasonal precipitation and snowmelt to maintain its level. In dry years, the lake has vanished completely, most recently in 2020, and earlier during 2013 to 2015.

What's a soda lake, you ask? A soda lake — more scientifically, an alkaline lake — has high concentrations of carbonate and bicarbonate salts, akin to baking soda dissolved in water. This chemistry gives it a uniquely high pH, creating an unusual ecosystem that supports extreme life forms (though humans probably shouldn't swim here). Goose Lake has several endemic fish, including the Goose Lake redband trout. Carved by volcanic upheaval, evaporation, and microbial erosion, the lake isn't salty like seawater, but it is mineral-rich and turbid.

Goose Lake is about 10 miles south of Lakeview, Oregon, and 25 miles north of Alturas, California, the heart of Modoc County's stunning wilderness and a perfect road trip stop. Though the valley is mostly privately owned and used for agriculture, Oregon's Goose Lake State Recreation Area offers camping and public access from May 1 through November 1.

The Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs were transformative times for the present-day Pacific Northwest, the Sierra Nevada, and northern California. Lava flows, glaciation, and tectonic movements — called "faulted blocking" — sculpted mountains and landforms, including Goose Lake, which may once have filled much of the basin. When full, the lake stands just 24 feet deep. For centuries, Indigenous tribes such as the Modoc and the Achumawi lived within the basin, fishing, hunting, and gathering marsh plants. In the 1840s, settlers moving west along the Applegate Trail traversed the area, creating ranching, timber, mining, and recreation economies along the way. Today, most local residents live in Lakeview, Oregon, or Davis Creek, California — small communities anchoring this borderland. Goose Lake also shares features with other terminal lakes formed across the northwest's Great Basin region. Mono Lake, one of the most mesmerizingly dangerous lakes in America, is a distant relative, 360 miles south. Though Mono Lake is even more saline, both unique regions are windows into the geology of the Eastern Sierra.

The easiest access to Goose Lake is from the Oregon side, where Goose Lake State Recreation Area Campground offers seasonal camping and hiking. The 48-site campground includes hot showers and flush toilets. From here, travelers can continue north on U.S. 395 to Oregon 31 via Lakeview, following the scenic Oregon Outback Byway, a 171-mile sojourn through diverse landscapes most visitors don't realize even exist.

Boating and fishing are limited on Goose Lake itself, but licensed California anglers can pursue redband trout in its tributary, Lassen Creek, upstream from Lassen Creek Campground. Be sure to follow posted signs — much of the surrounding land is privately owned — and check the special fishing regulations first. The campground is a small, rustic spot near natural obsidian deposits.