Other things you'll find at Anderson Marsh are different shorter trails that take you along the Nature Preserve area mainly, but there are other trails that go off into the wooded portion of the property that make for a little bit longer hike, if that's what you're looking for.
* Address: 8400 CA-53
Lower Lake, CA 95457
* Phone: (707) 279-2267
* Park Hours: Sunrise to Sunset
* Established: 1982
* Size: 1,065 Acres
* Elevation: Approx. 1,350 feet
Day Use Fee:
$4 per vehicle
Dogs:
Allowed on leash in parking lot only.
Potable Water:
No
Toilets:
Yes, portable
Day Use Area:
The day use area at the park is really just the parking lot and is the first thing you will see when driving in to Anderson Marsh, along with some of the historical buildings, a few picnic tables and portable toilets.
Will have to pay a day-use fee of around $4 to park if you plan on visiting the park for any amount of time. When we went, it was a self registration system where you put the money into the envelope and leave the other part of the envelope that you tear off on the — of your vehicle.
There were Park Rangers that came into the park and verified that people paid the day use fee, so be sure to submit the payment or have your state park annual pass displayed.
You will also find the portable toilets in this area, I think there were three or four when we went, if I can remember correctly and they were pretty decent inside.
Vehicles:
The self registration fee of $4 is for one vehicle, so if you have more vehicles in that you will have to pay an additional $4 per vehicle. I could not find any information this stated how many people maximum per vehicle we're allowed but if I do I will update this page with the new information as soon as possible.
Dogs:
Dogs are welcome in the parking lot area only and you're not allowed on any of the trails in the park due to the park being a natural preserve. If your dog is in the parking lot, they also require that you have a leash that is no longer than 6 feet in length on your dog at all times and the dog must be attended at all times.
To sum things up, dogs are allowed in certain areas, but it's probably not a good idea to bring your dog, even though people have left reviews online stating that they did bring their dogs on the trails, so I know it does happen but like many other state parks, it isn't really a dog friendly place.
Dogs are not really allowed in the main portion of Anderson Marsh State Historic Park, but they are allowed in the northern part of the park, on the shores of Clear Lake (Old Highway 53).
What Can I Do At Anderson Marsh?
Anderson Marsh is a very large area but to be quite honest there's not a whole lot to do outside hiking and visiting the historic buildings that are on the grounds. Regardless, it is a beautiful place that has different scenery to view, depending on the season with lots of wildlife and plenty of trails.
Anderson Marsh SP Map:
The Old Ranch:
A big part of Anderson Marsh State Park is the ranch area, which is where all of the historical buildings are found. This is where the majority of the pictures will be taken by most people and located right by the parking lot, making it conveniently located and all of the paths are pretty wide and level, so you can take a stroller or the kids with you, if you want to.
Historical Buildings:
As I mentioned before, there are several historical buildings on site and some have more significance than others but all the buildings (I thought) were really neat to look at, and I love history anyways, so it really is a two-in-one for me.
The Main House:
The main Ranch House on the property is probably the main attraction of that little area and has a very cool wrap around porch and even an old washing machine on the back portion of the house that I believe still works and is used in demonstrations for tours.
The Barns:
There are two barns on the property, when we went and one of them was all locked up, but the other barn was open and we could walk through and get a close-up view of the hand milled lumber from the 1800s.
Between the two barns was the Corral, which is another building that was used on the ranch for the animals.
The Outhouse:
There was also an outhouse on the grounds that is blocked off from entering inside, but still cool to look at and takes you back to how people used to go to the bathroom, and it was not as convenient as what we have nowadays.
The Stalls:
Like I mentioned earlier, there were also the Stalls in between the two barns or the corral, as the signs refer to it, which is yet another old building that was essential to the ranch's livelihood.
Trails:
When you look at the map for Anderson Marsh and study the trails, you can see that there are no real loops to the trails and one trail usually just turns into another trail, making it somewhat confusing, especially if you're out there with no map whatsoever!
I wanted to go over a few of the trails in Anderson Marsh, so you have a better understanding of how long they are, what routes they take and what other trails they turn into, so you have a much better understanding about how to navigate the trails.
The Ridge Trail:
The Ridge Trail is a nice, fairly flat trail that is approximately one mile in length (one way) and starts and stops off of the Anderson Flats Trail. If you started off in the day-use parking lot of the park, you would head West along the cattle fence.
It is possible to access the Ridge Trail from two separate points on the Anderson Flats Trail. If you started in the day-use parking lot and headed west along the fence line, you would come to a fork in the trail, in which case you would head South.
The other way to access the Ridge Trail from the Anderson Flats Trail would be to stay on the Anderson Flats Trail at the first fork, and at the second Fork stay right, and then at the third Fork stay left, and you would eventually make a hard left onto the Ridge Trail.
Cache Creek Nature Trail:
The Cache Creek Nature Trail is one of the prettiest Trail in Anderson Marsh State Park and is approximately 1.1 miles in length and the starting point is right from the parking area, also where all of the historical buildings are located.
You could also access the Cache Creek Nature Trail by heading west from the parking area and walking along the cattle fence on Anderson Flats Trail and you will eventually turn off on to the Cache Creek Trail, if you choose to go that way.
This trail has a very nice wooden boardwalk that runs along a short section of the trail, taking you along Cache Creek itself and then ends up taking you through some of the marsh areas, so you get to see a lot of the area's Natural Resources by taking this trail.
Anderson Flats Trail:
The Anderson Flats Trail is really the main trail that connects all of the other trails in the park. It starts off at the parking area and has West along the cattle fence and then veers Slightly North and from that point you have the options of cutting off on to any of the other trails in the park.
The Anderson Flats Trail is approximately .8 miles in length, so just under a mile one way and is fairly level and is also a stroller accessible if you have a jogging stroller that uses larger air filled tires.
The Marsh Trail:
The Marsh Trail is one of the shortest trails in the park, having a range of only half a mile, but provides one of the best views of Anderson Marsh State Historic Park that you can't get from any other Trail.
In order to access the Marsh Trail, you will have to come in on either the Cache Creek Nature Trail, the Anderson Flats Trail or the McVicar Trail, which ultimately you will have to add additional mileage to your journey in order to get there.
The McVicar Trail:
The McVicar Trail is the longest trail in the park, by far, stretching three and a half miles from start to finish, so if you are going to walk this trail, you will have to make your way back, making the walk more than 7 miles in total!
You can access the McVicar Trail from the Anderson Flats Trail or the Ridge Trail and if you do decide to walk this trail and go all the way to the end, you will be rewarded by having a view of Clear Lake.
Helpful Resources:
I wasn't able to find a ton of links online about Anderson Marsh State Historical Park, but the few I did find were very helpful in my research. I tried to compile all the data I found through various sources, including some of the resources I have listed below and put them all on this one page, in an easier to scan and read format.
