Best Beaches In The Inland Empire

When the temperature soars into triple digits in the Inland Empire, "beaches" and lakes are an optimal way to beat the summer heat.

Lake Arrowhead
(909) 337-3715
www.lakearrowhead.com

Set in the San Bernardino Mountains, the city of Lake Arrowhead is a picturesque mountain resort which features its central location, Lake Arrowhead. The lake of Lake Arrowhead is over 780 acres of gorgeous blue water stretching over 2 miles long and consists of 14 miles of shoreline. However, Lake Arrowhead is a private lake owned by the homeowners of Arrowhead woods and visitation to the lake by visitors and tourists is semi-restricted. Access to the lake by non-residents can be made by boat on the Arrowhead Queen Boat Tour, by water ski via McKenzie Water Ski School or by walking along the Lake Arrowhead Village.

Diamond Valley Lake
2615 Angler Avenue
Hemet, California 92543
(951) 926-7201
www.dvlake.com

Approximately 85 miles north of San Diego, Diamond Valley Lake is the largest man-made reservoir in Southern California. Constructed of 3 gigantic dams, Diamond Valley Lake holds over 260 billion gallons of water. During the construction of the dams fossils of extinct mammoths, mastodons, camel, and long-horned bison were uncovered. Diamond Valley Lake is excellent for fishing and boating. The Department of Fish and Game originally stocked the lake with the biggest specimens of largemouth bass they could find. The Diamond Valley Lake is fast becoming the premiere go-to lake for world class trout and bass fishing.

Yucaipa Regional Park
33900 Oak Glen Road
Yucaipa, CA 92399
Phone: (909) 790-3127
cms.sbcounty.gov

Located near Oak Glen, Yucaipa Regional Park offers scenic panoramic views of the San Bernardino Mountains and will give you the ultimate in mountainous serenity and beach type activities all rolled into one. The park offers a wide range of outdoor recreational activities, including swimming and fishing in any of the 3 lakes, a swim area with giant double chute water slides, and sandy beach area that is perfect for sun bathing. During the summer, rentals of aqua cycles and pedal boats are available to go out on the lake.

Lake Perris
17801 Lake Perris Drive
Perris, California 92571
www.parks.ca.gov

A man made lake built in the early 1970's, Lake Perris is over 3 miles long and 2 miles across with almost 10 miles of accessible shoreline. Located between Moreno Valley and the city of Perris, Lake Perris State Recreation Area provides a place to escape the heat in the summer. Lake Perris is one of California's most popular recreation destinations with almost 1.1 million visitors per year. The park offers many recreational activities to benefit from such as horseback riding, water skiing, boating, and jet skiing, camping, hiking, fishing and swimming.

Lake Elsinore
700 Lakeshore Drive
Lake Elsinore, CA 92530
Phone (951) 674-3124
www.lake-elsinore.org

With over 14 miles of shoreline and plenty of sun to go around, Lake Elsinore is the largest natural freshwater lake in Southern California. It's also an excellent spot for outdoor recreational activities like boating, jet skiing, wake boarding, kayaking and fishing. With 3 designated areas for fishing, you can also find beach areas for wading, volleyball courts, picnic areas and shaded structures. All of this fun is set against the Ortega Mountains and Cleveland National Forest as a backdrop.