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We rent a pontoon or kayaks at least once a year from Willow Beach Marina and have never been disappointed. They have a newer fleet of boats available and there are so many places to explore. Note that year round on Sundays and Mondays you cannot go north (ie to the hotsprings and dam) but you can go south and hit up Nelson's landing pretty easily.
Our favorite place to be. Near Las Vegas a piece of nature. Our beach nowadays. We usually come at 4pm to fish and leave at about 9pm. Clean accessible restrooms. We come 2x a week in the summer never too busy never too many people has grills and tables.
Marina has great access, restaurants and shops, kayak rentals, campground spots, and picnic tables. All for your trip comfort.
If you want to camp at Willow Beach, make your reservations in advance. I was not able to reserve tent campsite week and a half in advance. All was booked.
To my surprise, my America is great pass for Yosemite, and some other parks worked at Willow Beach as well.
Most of the people are coming to see the cave, and my unfortunately expectation did not match the reality of it.
However, it was pleasant to spend a few hours paddling around and enjoying the weather in October.
Perfect today to take a kayak trip up the river towards the dam. We rented two (two-person) kayaks at the marina for a day trip and the river was perfect. The staff at the marina are very friendly and helpfu and we had a great time with all of them. The whole process to rent the kayaks took less than 10 minutes and we were on our way to the docks. Kayaks were already prepared for our departure and took minutes to get underway. Along the way we encountered numerous mountain goats, a fox eating a crawfish for lunch and a bald eagle taking a bath in the river - fantastic day. Highly recommend this trip and marina, especially during the off season.
