Lake Pillsbury

walt 06-19-2003, 6:24 PM

Anyone ride at Lake Pillsbury ?

(the_madness) · (the_madness) **Join Date: May 2003** 06-26-2003, 9:00 AM

I'll be up there this weekend. I haven't ridden there before, how is it?

Did I see your boat up at Sonoma last night?

(susieq) · (susieq) **Join Date: May 2002** 06-26-2003, 9:55 AM

Pillsbury is wonderful...not the easiest place to get to, but some feel it is well worth the drive for good water. Small lake, but rarely crowded. Be sure to cover the boat once you hit the gravel road or you'll have a big mess to clean up. Also, I'd often find bolts and nuts in the bilge after something rattled loose on the road...the cat tracks feel like you're driving on a washboard.

(the_madness) · (the_madness) **Join Date: May 2003** 06-26-2003, 10:25 AM

Susie, how long is the drive from Santa Rosa? Thanks for the tip on the cover, I'll make sure I bring mine with me.

(bond) · (bond) **Join Date: Nov 2002** 06-26-2003, 10:45 AM

Brad - keep your COVER on or your boat will be full of dirt when ya get there, the road sucks

walt 06-26-2003, 1:26 PM

Brad
Its a great lake to ride and the road is in good shape right now.(take the logging road)
Put your boat cover on then put a plastic tarp over that with plenty of bungy cords.
the road does get a little harsh at the end of summer.
ps I will be up for the 4th of july

(susieq) · (susieq) **Join Date: May 2002** 06-26-2003, 2:22 PM

Brad, I would plan on 2 hours...an hour to Ukiah and then another hour...probably more like 40 minutes depending on how fast you take the washboard road. Walt's suggestion of putting a plastic tarp over the boat cover is great. The logging road is definitely better...it's been closed on occasion, but last I heard it was open.

(gunz) · (gunz) **Join Date: Sep 2001** 06-26-2003, 4:42 PM

Pillsbury sucks,don't go there!
Actually ,I want it all to myself.....The road is pretty bad,but if it was good the lake would be crowded with Barneys.
I'll be there in August for one week!!!!!!
I think it's closer to three hours,but it's worth it.

(gunz) · (gunz) **Join Date: Sep 2001** 06-26-2003, 4:45 PM

Brad,be careful cause the north east part of the lake is kind of shallow.
Go to Split Rock for all the parties!

walt 06-26-2003, 5:13 PM

The lake is full to the top right now.

walt 06-26-2003, 5:15 PM

That pic is the north east side

(the_madness) · (the_madness) **Join Date: May 2003** 06-30-2003, 8:03 AM

Thanks for all of the towing tips everyone. We took the logging road and it was in reasonably good shape. Pillsbury was increadible, you can find good water all day long. We went for a night ride Friday night as soon as we rolled in, then rode 5-6 session on Saturday and 3 sessions on Sunday (yea, I'm sore). Has anyone ever ridden the river in the southeast corner? We rode that all day long. It's in a canyon protected and about 150 feet wide, need I say BUTTER. From what I understand this is the first time Pillsbury has been this full in years, so it might have been too shally in recent years. This thing runs back in almost a half mile and is about 8 ft deep most of the time, but the spot we made our turn is was a shallow as four feet. Thanks again for all of the tips, Walt, the tarp over the cover was a good call!!!

walt 06-30-2003, 4:04 PM

I'm going back up on thursday ! Anyone else going to be there ?

(gunz) · (gunz) **Join Date: Sep 2001** 06-30-2003, 5:12 PM

Brad,the last time I went, that river was to shallow to ride.I saw some guys driving ahead of us run aground in that river.Scary.
I'm really lookin forward to my trip there.

(the_madness) · (the_madness) **Join Date: May 2003** 07-01-2003, 8:08 AM

The river is killer, but make sure to take a slow cruise back in first to scout it out. I was making my turn in a slightly larger area right before the river makes a turn to the left and it was about 4 ft deep.