10 Most Haunted California Lakes

Are you brave enough to visit one of these haunted California lakes?

Do you enjoy experiencing things that can’t be explained?

Do you enjoy the paranormal?

Then this list is for you.

Updated 2/9/2020 – When you think of haunted places in the United States, do not forget the California lakes.

There are plenty of California lakes with a mysterious history.

If you visit any of these California lakes, you might see some things out of the ordinary.

Everyone has heard about ghost towns that might be haunted, but there are other creepier places, like these California lakes, that you should visit if you are on the hunt for paranormal activity.

There are California lakes haunted by ghosts, others where strange lights that appear, and still more where you can hear disembodied voices at certain times of the night.

If you feel particularly brave, you can make a trip to one of these haunted lakes to see what you can find.

10 Most Haunted California Lakes

10. Stowe Lake, San Francisco

Here is one of the California lakes that you must visit if you want to see some strange activity.

Inside the Golden Gate Park, you can make your way to this lake and rent a rowboat.

If you go at the right time, you might see more than just other tourists.

It is said that a hundred years ago a young woman went boating on the lake with her baby.

The child accidentally fell into the water, and both the child and her mother died after the mother jumped into the water to rescue her baby.

What was supposed to be a happy vacation turned into a horror story, and no one can forget the sad death of both the mother and her child.

Now many visitors see the ghost of this young woman late at night.

She wears a long, white dress and has flowing dark hair, and she wanders around the edge of the lake looking for her child each night.

Some visitors report that she has a frantic look on her face and that the ghost flits around the edge of the lake, trying in vain to find her child.

She never stops and will not rest until they can be reunited somehow.

Hundreds of witnesses have seen this woman, and they all give the same accounts about her clothes and appearance.

If you visit this place, one of the haunted California lakes, what might you see?

Photo credit: flickr/static808

9. Canyon Lake, Canyon Lake

Within the Canyon Lake area, stay at the condos on Indian Beach.

While the land used to belong to Indians and was sacred, it was bought up to be turned into camp sites and a national park.

The spirits of the old Native Americans are still present.

In the condos, visitors say that the sinks turn on and off by themselves.

The shower curtains move as though someone is pulling them back, but no one is there.

Photo credit: flickr/dennym

8. Bass Lake Road, Bass Lake

While this is not one of the well-known California Lakes, the reservoir has two ghosts of its very own.

When water flows over the road, visitors report seeing a girl in white standing on the street.

Even more creepily, there is a bench build on the side of the road, dedicated by an old man in the area.

He died years ago, but sometimes you can see him sitting on the bench.

Witness report it appears as if he’s mouthing the word “Help”.

Photo credit: flickr/liquidmoonlightcom

7. Lake Forrest, Lake Forrest

There are many properties along the Lake Forrest shore, and people report strange things happening in many of these buildings.

While it is popular among California lakes for weddings, Lake Forrest also gets reports that there are unexplainable cold spots in many of the surrounding buildings.

The workers at nearby hotels often last less than a year.

The reason many of them give is feeling an overwhelming sense of dread coming from the lake, to the point of causing them to have anxiety attacks.

Photo credit: flickr/elephipelephi

6. Lake Elsinore, Lake Elsinore

Out of all the California lakes, this one has all kinds of strange events reported.

There were many accidents when this area was still popular and operational, but one of the worst accidents happened at the abandoned country club.

In 2001 it caught fire.

Reports surfaced that several homeless families were caught inside during the blaze and burned alive.

Visitors today report hearing disembodied screams and experiencing an intense burning sensation in their chest and stomach while in the northern section of the structure.

Photo credit left: flickr/jman9152
Photo credit right: flickr/ineeddadrink

5. Pinto Lake, Watsonville

On Hawthorne Lane, a woman was murdered fifty years ago.

The murderer threw the woman’s body into Pinto Lake and fled, leaving her house untouched for twenty years.

The police did not find the house and so it remained an untouched murder scene until the 1970s.

The body was never recovered from Pinto Lake and the murderer is still at large today.

There are strange creaking sounds in the house, and people report hearing footsteps coming toward the house from the lake.

Reports abound of doors opening and closing on their own.

Some visitors say that they can hear piano music coming from inside the home.

When attempting to investigate the source, visitors give conflicting reports.

Some state coming face to face with the apparition of the murdered woman.

Others report being chased away by a huge man swinging a tire iron.

Those who encounter the man state he runs with an odd limp and appears to have unusually large eyes and teeth.

Photo credit: flickr/visualideas

4. East Lake, Chula Vista

Here is another of the haunted California lakes.

Visitors to this lake say that they can see a woman in a long dress walking by the side of the road, looking for someone to help her get home.

When people pull over in a car to offer her a ride, she disappears.

Some people say she is the ghost of a woman who was killed in an accident, and others say she tries to cause accidents on the road so she has company.

Others go so far as to claim she has telekinetic abilities and forces cars off the road.

Photo credit: eastlakelocals.com

3. Lake Tahoe, Lake Tahoe

You might know about Lake Tahoe because of its fame as a California lake, but it has a tragic backstory as well.

In the 1800s, a young woman came to vacation at the lake with her family, but she slipped under the water while they were boating and drowned.

Now she reportedly haunts Lake Tahoe.

Terrified visitors sometimes report seeing a woman floating under the water in the eastern section of the lake.

Photo credit: flickr/amaliachimera

2. Waterdog Lake, Belmont

This is one of the California lakes with a sad story.

One day a young boy was walking home near the Waterdog Lake, but he never made it back to his family.

Some people say that the ghost of Waterdog Lake killed him, but other people say that the boy was murdered by an escaped prisoner, and now the boy haunts Waterdog Lake himself.

Gun shots and screams coming from an unidentifiable source are semi-common here.

Photo credit: yelp/Elisha P.

1. Clear Lake, Lake County

Here is one of the California lakes that have been haunted since the pioneer times.

A woman and her husband moved to Clear Lake to start a new life, and while the husband was gone a band of thieves came.

They killed the woman and threw her body into a well near the lake.

Sometimes visitors see her ghost walking around the shore of the lake, waiting for her husband to return.

Photo credit: flickr/amywindsor

Your Next Step

Pick a lake from this list, grab your friends…

And take a dip in the lake, or just go to visit.

But don’t be surprised if you experience something…