Shaver Lake, Recreational reservoir in Sierra National Forest, California.
Shaver Lake is a reservoir in the Sierra National Forest, California, tucked among wooded slopes at roughly 5600 feet. The human-made body of water covers about six square kilometers, and its flow feeds power stations downstream.
Southern California Edison built the dam in the late 1920s to generate electricity for the rapidly growing southern part of the state. Years earlier, Thomas A. Edison Company had already begun flooding the area, submerging the earlier settlement beneath the rising waterline.
The reservoir takes its name from trapper Alvah Shaver, who settled nearby in the 19th century, and anglers and boaters now gather along its shoreline. The small communities dotting the shore still carry the feel of a mountain settlement that grew alongside logging and hydroelectric work.
Several campgrounds and boat ramps ring the shoreline, offering different entry points to fishing spots and quieter coves. Anyone planning to fish needs a valid license, as trout are stocked regularly throughout the season.
The earlier town of Shaver lies beneath the surface, submerged when the area was flooded in the late 1910s. Old foundations and traces of buildings still rest on the lakebed, invisible to boaters passing overhead.
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