Silver Lake East- Eldorado

We stayed at silver lake Eldorado east for 2 nights and loved it. Lots of things to explore… there is a lodge by the lake with a grocery store, and you can rent some gear for water activities. But be prepared to be off grid, there practically no cell service in the area.. you can get weak connection here and there but if you need to use internet best place to do that is kirkwood meadows. It’s about 7miles away.

Sweet campground. Quiet and peaceful. There were several sites available on a Saturday night (Smokey skies from Sierra fires may have lessened the demand). Easy access sites. Some more private than others. But beautiful setting all around. Can walk 5 minutes to Silver Lake, and to the private lodge /restaurant adjacent if you don’t feel like cooking.

I’ve camped here 4 times- 2 times tent camping and 2 times trailer camping. The lake has a beautiful, and easy to walk to from the campground, especially from the sites in the 40s and 50s. The vault toilets can be a bummer if you are tent camping, and there are no hookups for rvs. But the campground has beautiful trees, and there is a restaurant and camp store for your convenience. Also, across the highway at the Silver Lake East campground is an awesome hidden secret called “Potholes.” Shhhhh!

Stayed at this Campground in the beginning of August. It was absolutely stunning. Super close to this place called The Pots. We arrived near sundown. Unpacked our gear and then walked to The Pots from our campsites. The views were amazing. The campsite host had fire wood for sale. There were new bathroom facilities installed. There were no showers or sinks. There was a fire pit at every campsite and a picnic table as well. Well worth it! Would definitely come here again.

Stayed here a couple of times, and recommend staying away from the road as it is very busy and you can hear traffic noise at night. The small pond has lots of ducks and birds and is quieter if you can get a spot nearby. It was a tight squeeze to fit two tents in our campsite, but they vary in size. There is a host so the vault toilets are kept clean. Picnic table, piped water, fire ring.

This is close to several lakes and good hiking.

Campground Review

The campground is off Hwy 88 in the El Dorado National Forest just a few miles from the Kirkwood Resort. It sits on the northeastern side of Silver Lake. I drove up to this campground for an overnight stay on Saturday last August to escape the heat of the Central Valley. I didn’t have reservations and got the last campsite in the campground, which was very lucky. You can make reservations online, though the campground is pretty popular and gets booked up early! There were many sites that appeared to have large groups camping together making it a very family friendly campground. It’s not the most secluded atmosphere as a result but still quiet and relaxing.

It was a big spacious tent site (55) that required a bit of a walk-in, but not too far. The site was wooded and pleasant. I have camped in the area before and it can be a bit cold in the late spring. However, by this point in summer it was beautiful. The campground is a short 5 minute walk away from the lake. I brought fishing gear, relaxed by the shore and spent some time kayaking. Silver Lake has a boat launch and was a beautiful lake to go kayaking. There was also plenty of hiking nearby for those staying more than one night.

The campground has vault toilets, drinking water, fire rings, picnic tables and bear proof storage boxes. The fee was $24 per night for a tent site. The campground is also adjacent to a small resort (the Kit Carson Lodge) which had a general store and a restaurant if you forget anything or don’t feel like cooking. For more info click here and to make reservations click here!

Product Review

As a Dyrt Ranger, I also get products to test and review in the field. At this campground I tested a few pairs of Optic Nerve Sunglasses including these styles:

Mashup

Steelhead

Kindred

Bonnaroo

As an avid Kayaker, these sunglasses are great for watersports, and I can’t wait to bring them up to the ski slopes with me come winter! Here are my favorite aspects of these glasses:

1.    Quality construction – solid frame construction ensures the hinges won’t bust anytime soon and they should be able to endure a fall

2.    Quality lenses – the lenses were amazingly crystal clear while still offering the protection you expect from sunglasses, especially when you’re out on highly reflective surfaces like water/snow

3.    Affordability – all of these styles were under $40, as someone who loses sunglasses often to canyons and rivers I can easily replace these without too much heartache

Of all the glasses, my favorite style were definitely the Bonnaroo as they were lightweight, comfortable and stylish! My adventure partner and real life boyfriend tried some out as well. He tends to have more difficulty finding affordable good quality sunglasses to fit his wider face shape. He loved all of the styles though his favorite were the Kindred, as they were highly stylish, fit his wider face perfectly and were still incredibly durable. Plus at $35 they are a steal! When purchasing these sunglasses I really appreciated the option to filter for face width. Anyone with a wider face knows the struggle of getting a pair of beautiful sunglasses in the mail only to have them be way too tight! The Mashup and Steelhead are also both great glasses. The cool blue lenses add style to the hip Mashup frame. The Steelheads are great for long days on the water either on a boat or fishing (for steelheads!) as the thicker sides provide extra protection. Overall these are all solid glasses and I would definitely recommend Optic Nerve to any adventurer who needs some high quality affordable sun protection.