Paddleboarding Rush Creek and a Summer Day on the June Lake Loop

Summer on the June Lake Loop is a water day. Four lakes sit within a few miles of each other, and the creeks that connect them run cold and clear out of the high country. At the chalet, five full-size stand-up paddleboards and one kid-size board wait in the garage, so nobody has to rent anything, haul anything or drive into town. The only question is where to put in.

Our answer is almost always Rush Creek, where it winds into Silver Lake. Put in on the lake and turn upstream. The creek slows as it meanders through the meadow, so clear you can count the trout under the board, and the walls of the Loop rise straight ahead, streaked with snow into early summer. Go in the morning, before the afternoon wind comes up, and you will often have the water to yourself.

The rest of the loop

Grant Lake, the biggest, sits at the north end, open and wild, with granite ledges along the shore and water cold enough to make you yell. Check the depth and your landing before anyone jumps. Gull Lake, the smallest and closest to the chalet, has the rope swing that has launched generations of summers. June Lake has a sandy beach for a slow afternoon. Gull and June are both calm in the morning and the right place for a first paddle with small kids.

By late afternoon the wind comes up, the boards go back on the rack, and everybody drifts home sunburned and starving. The hot tub is waiting, then dinner at a twelve-foot table, then the creek outside the window. For more summer ideas, see summer at June Lake and our June Lake guide. Send us your dates.