If you happen to be in central California during June, July or August and are looking for a place to beat the sweltering heat on the valley floor and do a little camping.  There is a place well known to Californians in the high Sierra's just outside of  Fresno, that most people who are not native to California don't even know exists.

It's a campers paradise where you can enjoy temperatures in the mid 80's or low 90's, with cool mountain breezes and the smell of  mountain pines.

To get there, take Hwy 99 to Fresno then go northeast on Hwy 168 to a little town called Shaver Lake.  You will be climbing from an elevation of 361 ft above sea level, to 5,627 ft.  Needless to say  the elevation at Shaver Lake keeps the temperature a lot cooler than it is in Fresno where temperatures can reach 110 degrees plus.

Once at  Shaver Lake The Camping options are endless. You can camp at Shaver lake or go to Dinkey Creek, where there is a well managed campground with over 120 campsites (call first to reserve a spot). On down the road a piece there are campgrounds at Wishon Reservoir or Courtright  Reservoir.  On the way to Wishon and Courtright there is a little place on the side of the road called McKinley Grove named after William McKinley, Jr.the 25th President of the United States. This is one of  only 8 groves in the U.S. (all in California) that house the Giant Sequoias, the world's largest trees in terms of total volume. They grow to an average height of 160–279 ft  and 20–26 ft in diameter. Record trees have been measured to be 311 ft in height and 56 ft in diameter. The oldest known Giant Sequoia based on ring count is 3,500 years old.

If you are in the Shaver Lake, Dinkey Creek area this is a must see!

Courtright reservoir, at an elevation of 8,170 feet is a great place to go for outdoor enthusiasts seeking to camp, fish, hike, boat, swim, rock climb, and 4wheel. It is surrounded by unique domes of granite that are  in the center of the high Sierra's  and are highly sought after by rock climbers from all over the State.

So if your in the area, grab you camp stove, tent, sleeping bags, lantern and anything else you think you might need  and strike out for the Shaver Lake area.

You won't be disappointed.