LAKE CASITAS, CALIF. — I was floating on an inner tube, basking in the sun of a bluebird day in western Ventura County, as my inflatable vessel coasted on a lazy current under a spray of cool mist. On the shore, a tanned lifeguard looked down at me from behind big pink sunglasses.
This is what passes for camping at Lake Casitas.
Sure, Lake Casitas Recreation Area has campsites -- more than 400, plus a marina and some of the best fishing in the state. But the water park I was enjoying is the big draw here.
Just inside the park entrance is a showering, spraying jungle gym set inside a giant wading pool. A few feet away, a snaking concrete-lined waterway with a gentle current carries inner-tube riders in a circuitous route under waterfalls, misters and cascading showers.
So how did a water park end up on the shore of this 2,700-acre lake?
For decades, Lake Casitas was known for fishing. If you check out the photos at the bait shop near the marina, you'll see some of the monster largemouth bass and dinosaur-size trout that hard-core anglers have wrestled from these waters over the last 30 years. Among fishermen, Lake Casitas has been a favorite to produce a world-record catch.
But in the last few years, the popularity of sport fishing nationwide has plummeted faster than the California real estate market. To make up for the decline in paying visitors, the lake's operator -- the Casitas Municipal Water District -- built a small water park, the Casitas Water Adventure, and a few years later added the Lazy River, a serpentine pool with water jets that push inner-tube riders around the 1,200-foot route.
Based on visitor numbers, the water features have been a boon for Lake Casitas.
On a warm Thursday morning, I drove from Los Angeles to Lake Casitas with my 10-year-old daughter, Isabella. She wasn't thrilled with the idea of camping and fishing. Too many biting mosquitoes and idle hours standing on a muddy shore, she said. But when I told her about the water park, she looked up from her Nintendo DS screen and asked, "How big are the water slides?" I took that as a positive response.
The lake is about a 70-minute drive from Los Angeles, a perfect distance for a quick weekend getaway. Drive along oak-shaded California 33 east of Ventura into the rolling hills near Ojai and then turn west onto California 150 and you'll find the blue-green waters of Lake Casitas. When we pulled up to the entrance, we requested a campsite near the water park. (Camping permits start at $25 per night.) We got a spot in campground C, a short walk from the water park and within earshot of the cacophony on 150.
