Only cartographers call Trinity Lake – created by the damming of the Trinity River – by its official name of Clair Engle Lake, adopted to commemorate the state senator who oversaw the dam’s construction during the 1960s. Keeping the name suggested by the river is one way locals express their anger over the project, particularly those who owned the land, or had links with the two gold-rush-era villages which now lie at the bottom of the reservoir that the dam created.

Controversies aside, the lake sits placidly at the foot of the rugged, glaciated peaks of the Trinity Alps, around which 400 miles of long, isolated hiking trails traverse forests, meadows and canyons. Hiking here is arduous and spectacular, and can also be dangerous: never venture into the wilds without proper clothes, equipment and preparation, which includes listening to the latest weather forecast and acquir­ing the latest information from the Ranger Station at Trinity Center.

Detour – Trinity Centre

The damming of the Trinity River caused Trinity Center to be unceremoniously shifted from its original location to a new one on the shores of Trinity Lake, where it became a base for watery activities – boating, fishing, jet-skiing – all of which and more are available from numerous outlets around the town’s marina. Bizarre as it may sound, Trinity Center also keeps what must be California’s finest selection of barbed wire, many different types of which form the core of the local ranching exhibits dutifully assembled at Scotts Museum (http://www.northtrinitylake.com/scottmuseum/), on Airport Road.