About Lake McClure & Lake McSwain Family Lakes

About Lake McClure

Lake McClure is an amazing family-friendly lake that’s perfect for water sports, fishing, and camping in the warm California sun. Clean, fresh water with miles of shoreline and long inlets – enjoy California’s serenity without all the big crowds.

With a lake that’s big enough for boaters to spread out, Lake McClure is perfect for all of your favorite water recreational activities. Complete with launch ramps for water skiing and an ever-popular location for house boating. Lake McClure is an affordable getaway that you can visit time and time again.

About Lake McSwain

The Lake McSwain Camping & Recreation area is one of Central California’s best kept secrets. Featuring a marina, general store, and food service, Lake McSwain features an abundance of great recreational areas and is located just six miles from the town of Snelling.

Hosting a wide variety of trout species, Lake McSwain offers an excellent opportunity to catch daily bag limits and large trophy fish. As trolling and shore fishing are popular success methods for pursuing that one amazing catch, Lake McSwain is home to many fishing tournaments and is a perfect place to relax the day away with a few casts.

Why Visit Us

With everything from fishing to boating, swimming to camping, Lake McClure and Lake McSwain offer some of the best recreational opportunities in all of California.

Premier lake

Lake McClure is a premier lake complete with plenty of coves and inlets for boaters to explore. With the inclusion of water ramps for water skiers and wakeboarders, McClure’s large body of water provides the best in water recreation.

Strong Fishing

Lake McSwain is a strong fishing lake populated with a variety of fish like salmon, trout, and other species. With annual fishing tournaments held at the lake. Also rich with the best spots for shore fishing around the marinas and campgrounds, Lake McSwain is a great place for relaxing nature activities.

Welcoming Campgrounds

With several campgrounds at both lakes, Lake McClure or Lake McSwain is perfect for your next vacation getaway. As most campgrounds have hot showers and other welcomed amenities, guests can reserve clusters of sites to create a group camping area on their reservation.

Lake McClure & Lake McSwain

Both lakes feature a collection of recreational activities, amenities and lodging.

Boating

Lake McClure is big enough for boaters to spread out and enjoy lake activities without the usual crowd found at other lakes. With lots of nice coves and inlets for visitors and house boaters to enjoy, along with launch ramps, the wide body of open water leaves enough room for both relaxing and water sports recreation, sacrificing no loss of comfort for any water skiers or wakeboarders, sailors, or anglers.

Marinas

Lake McClure and Lake McSwain have two marinas, one at Lake McSwain (The Reel Deal Market & Cafe) and one at Lake McClure – Barrett Cove. While services vary at each marina, Barrett Cove Marina has everything you need for your stay. The Reel Deal Market & Cafe at Lake McSwain has camping and fishing amenities in addition to kayak rentals and paddle boats. Please see our Marina page for more information.

Fishing

Populated with tons of salmon, trout, bass, and other species, Lake McSwain is a great fishing lake with fishing tournaments held regularly. While shore fishing around the marinas, campgrounds, and even around some of the more remote coves and creek inlets are great casting spots, fishing boats are available for rent at the Barrett Cove Marina for those that wish to fish out on the lake.

Campgrounds

All campgrounds have hot showers and other great amenities to make your stay a comfy one. With most campgrounds also offering RV hook-ups, guests can reserve clusters of sites on their reservation to create a group camping area for large parties.

Lodging

Cabins are available at Lake McSwain Campground and Barrett Cove Recreation Area on Lake McClure’s western shore. Ideal for a cozy vacation or family and friends get-togethers. Additionally, there is more lodging in the town of Coulterville and Mariposa.

Scenery

Among the foothill reservoirs, Lake McClure and Lake McSwain provide a distinct natural beauty that is unmatched by their counterparts. With rolling hills and stately oaks for a warm, friendly ambiance, the relaxed feel to the lakes at Merced Irrigation District is sure to bring a memorable experience.

Nearby Communities

As Lake McClure and Lake McSwain aim to be an immersive getaway from the usual busy California landscape, Coulterville is the only major town close to our district. Alternatively, the small community of Snelling is right around the bend of the lake, with park visitors using it for gas and other needs.

Splash-n-Dash Aqua Park

Would you like to enjoy our lake water park? Check out the Lake McClure & Lake McSwain water park website to buy tickets: Splash-n-Dash Aqua Park.

This was our first stay at the Lake McSwain campgrounds. We really enjoyed ourselves and the campgrounds left me largely impressed. The campsites are a nice size. Some are large enough to accommodate 2 tents and 2 vehicles! Many of the tent sites are right near the water (but still far enough away to be safe if you have little kids with you). The swimming area is perfect. There is plenty of swimming space roped off and there is enough shallow area for little ones to play, but also a deeper end for adults to wade out to. Many people take advantage of the fishing, but we didn't try on this trip. I appreciated the water spigots that were located within a close walk to each camp site.

We've been camping here for over thirty summers! It's so beautiful and peaceful, we have met so many wonderful people here including the rangers, they are great! We've been to all the resorts at both lakes and they are all great and unique. There's a spot for every individual preference...if you look for it, it's there!

This was my favorite family spot. The kids enjoyed the play area and the pond was not too deep. The bathrooms were always clean too!

If you want to go camping for some rest and relaxation, find peace and tranquility, this is a perfect place to camp. But if you want to party, find another campsite. Yes, there are a lot of flies so bring fly swattet, whatever works but we didn't see any roaches or bats. We camped on loop E.

We booked the weekend at McSwain to celebrate our daughters 17th bday. The campgrounds are huge! At each "site" there are shade towers, a BBQ pit, a fire pit and a raised food storage tower. Water spickets are nearby. This is a great, safe place for kids to play and the bathrooms are greatly maintained/very clean! Showers are clean as well. The park rangers are friendly, really nice and very helpful. We frequent this campground because we always have a great time. Sometimes rude idiots will come to camp, but the Rangers are always on top of taking care of the overly rowdy. Great for families! We just got home right now and are planning our next camping trip there 🙂

We lucked out and booked a great spot to camp at lake McSwain. Clean camp spot and restrooms! They even have soap and paper towels. We enjoyed fishing and walking around the area. I think it must get really busy in the summer though as there are a lot of camping spots and nice day use areas with outdoor kitchens and a horse shoe area. Definitely will camp here again, maybe not in the height of the camping season though.

About Lake McClure & Lake McSwain Family Lakes