Lake Isabella, just south of Kernville where the North and South Forks of the Kern River converge, is the largest freshwater lake in southern California — a 38,000-acre reservoir built behind a 1953 dam. It is a major summer playground for the southern Sierra, drawing fishing, boating and water-skiing crowds from across the Central Valley and Los Angeles.
The shoreline is open and varied, with sandy beaches at Auxiliary Dam and Tillie Creek, both with developed campgrounds. Boats can be rented at the French Gulch Marina. Water levels fluctuate with the snowpack — in dry years the lake retreats far from its high-water shoreline.