Subscriber Comments for
Oso Flaco Lake Outing

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 124251	2010-11-27 10:43 AM
This is a great place! Last time I went there was a constant hum of the off-roaders, but I never actually saw any of them. The sand is amazingly free of footprints, except for the ones I made. Also nearby - Far Western Tavern!
SEEDLADY	2010-11-27 10:53 AM
Yes, I was dissapointed that at the start of the trail you could hear the vehicles. I'm glad the path goes across the water now--early on it was at the base of the dunes below the riding area. Much louder. At about 4:00, it must have been dinner time, because it became the 'sound of silence'--jus the breeze and the birds. At the beach itself, you can't hear the riders, jus the glorious sounds of the surf and birds, and shouts of kids playing. What the whole dunes complex oughtta sound like IMO.
JOHN WILEY	2010-11-27 01:08 PM
Thank you for bringing us all along on your enchanting stroll. The photos are so relaxing and quiet.
COMMENT 124272P	2010-11-27 01:21 PM
Thanks for the pics. If you go there during weekdays in winter, there are usually fewer vehicles and noise. When it's windy there's sand all over the entire region. I always wondered what it would be like to live around there (cleaning out sand all the time?) What's the best Mexican restaurant in Guadalupe? The Rock and Roll Diner in Oceano is fun but the food's not that great.
TAZ	2010-11-27 01:59 PM
There is Old Juan's Cantina in Oceano. Food is good, atmosphere is very pleasant old time Mexican, a large inside broken in to sections, some booths, and there are some outside tables. link Thanks for the photos, haven't made it there yet, looks very enjoyable...
COMMENT 124272P	2010-11-27 05:38 PM
It appears that La Simpatia gets the nod as the place in Guadalupe for the best authentic Mexican. There are several authentic and very good places in Guadalupe, but it seems to get the best reviews. link link I've driven past it several times, but next time I'll stop in and try it out.
COMMENT 124318	2010-11-27 07:23 PM
Ahhh, the wild animal tracks, looks like racoons, probably Coyotes, not to mention all the other wildlife running around out there. Just like at Surf Beach in Lompoc, lock the people out to save the Snowy Plovers. Not to worry about the preditors. It's the Human that destroys them.
COMMENT 124340	2010-11-28 06:02 AM
i've heard that there are bass in those lakes. has anyone here ever fished them?
SEEDLADY	2010-11-28 08:13 AM
I think La Simpatia in Guadalupe is closed for a slow-going remodel. At least, that's the word on Chowhound. Old Juan's is extra-cheesy American style Mexican food. Not high on my list. Agree 101 Diner is just average. (They serve Greek items but haven't tried any) Best Mexican from Oso Flaco would be any of the Deli-Mex's at the Mexican Supermarkets in Santa Maria. Most are just grab 'n go, but some have informal tables. Delicious and very authentic. My Fav: @ La Mia Market, North Boadway, behind 7-11. Strictly to go: El Bravo @ Blosser and W Main, and directly kitty corner, Su Mesa Market (another location is in Stowell Center, back row, @ Battles and Main behind Del Taco. There is a cafe, Carmelita, on N Broadway, just north of Main a few blocks, at the rear of a tiny stripmall on the west side of the street. Menudo with tortillas hecho a mano on Sundays--the place is always packed. In the evenings, Taco Trucks abound on North Broadway in odd parking lots. Usually after sundown. Weekdays, on East Betteravia about 1 mile east from 101 is truck 'Tichita' run by two ladies who are sweet and funny. Great food--their commisary is La Mia Market. Great prices and sometimes special treats like posole and menudo, everything is always great here. Parked on E Betteravia near Rosemary Rd. Happy chow trails
POWDRELL	2010-11-28 11:55 AM
Very cool pictures and story. Thanks for taking us there.
COMMENT 124272P	2010-11-28 01:07 PM
Seedlady, thanks for the head's up with La Simpatia being closed and also for the places to try in SM. Those are the kinds of places I always try to search for, too. I'll have to check them out, they sound like the real thing. I used to always hit the trucks parked in Boyle Heights in East LA (the old school ones and not the newer gentrified versions.) I agree too, about Old Juan's. It's not very good and caters to the American style side of things (a heavy cheese, no flavor, not fresh, mostly processed, washed down with over sized Margaritas kind of cuisine.) Chacho's in Oceano is the real stuff. But it's take-out only although there are a few chairs and tables out front. Very fresh and with tortillas made daily. More like the places in SM you mentioned. link
SEEDLADY	2010-11-29 06:19 AM
In Oceano, the taqueria I like best is inside the market @ Cienega (Highway 1) and Railroad, near the packing houses. A little funky but the food is great and very cheap. And for tamales in 5 Cities, Carmelita Bakery #2 at 13th and Farroll Rd has some good ones. They are usually gone by late lunch hour. I love their bolillos sandwich rolls, too. Also very nice pan dulces, and a fair Tres Leches cake. The best TLC I've had in South County is at Rancho Nipomo bbq place at 166 and 101 intersection. It's an eye-roller.
COMMENT 124562	2010-11-29 03:58 PM
Oso Flaco Lake is owned and maintained by California State Parks (more specifically, Oceano Dunes SVRA).
COMMENT 125410	2010-12-02 08:20 PM
ACTUALLY... The OHV park rescued Oso Flaco Lake. It's part of the OHV property and OHV money pays to maintain it and paid to build the boardwalk and bridge. It was not denuded of vegetation by vehicles--a controlled burn was in fact recently conducted to eliminate 160 acres of invasive vegetation south of the lake (see: www-flickr-com/photos/photosfromthevault/4235448176/ -- change dashes to dots to make link work). Invasive European beach grass (Ammophila Arenaria) was planted all over the dune complex by farmers, railroad, real estate and other interests to stop the naturally blowing sand. The in-filling of the lake by sand is due to reduced flow of Oso Flaco Creek due to Lopez Dam. Natural flow is required to purge the lake and keep it full. The re-vegetation project was conducted in attempt to reduce the amount of naturally blowing sand off the oceano from in-filling the lake.
COMMENT 125410	2010-12-03 11:03 AM
Oso Flaco Lake was one name recorded in the Spanish diaries of the Portola Expedition which stayed there on September 2, 1769. Unknown to the Spaniards, the "skinny bears" were poisoned by Indians to make them easier to hunt. The Spaniards ate the poisoned meat and became sick, and ended up staying two days at the lake. On September 4, the Expedition continued north through the dunes. The Land Conservancy of SLO and Dunes Center participate in a dune stakeholders committee along with California State Parks OHV Division and the USDA Natural Wildlife Refuge which is south of the lake and off-limits. Oso Flaco Lake includes Snowy Plover breeding areas, some of which are hunted by the "critters" whose footprints are shown. An extensive management program, paid by off-highway vehicle money, has made the Snowy Plover recovery within the vehicle recreation area lands the most successful in California and a model for every other west coast region.
SEEDLADY	2010-12-05 02:24 PM
The area north of the lakes was indeed denuded by human mechanical activity. I've been walking the dunes since the 60's; once the vehicles were fenced out, the area has slowly revegetated, both by human introduction and by natural forces. The lakes are NOT a part of the Lake Lopez water drainage; that would be Arroyo Grande creek, several watersheds to the north. The fresh water going into the lakes is likely a combination of field runoff and springs, but not that of Lopez Canyon. The lakes have never to my knowledge been part of any year round creek system to provide the flushing that poster 410 alludes would naturally flush silting. To say the OHV's rescued the lakes is exactly backwards. The state only set aside the land from the vehicular activity area after being found guilty of violating the Federal Endangered Species Act within its own park. The suit was brought by the Sierra Club for not providing nesting protection for the Plover; included in the settlement was the stipulation that the State provide for the Plover rehab and education program with ORV funds. Volunteers from community helped build the walkway to keep human footpaths off the revegetating areas, and the state contracted with several local wholesale native plant growers to provide plant materials. Seed was hand colllected in the undamaged area and then young starts were grown and planted under the direction of the state, in cooperation with the Land Conservancy. Some fencing continues today to the south of the walkway because the plover nesting areas are so fragile. The most effective plover nesting rehabilitation is actually to the south of both the SRVA and Oso Flaco at the very south end of the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Complex, in an area called Rancho Guadalupee Dunes. An area less impacted by OHV and other human activity, It has been managed for 10 years by the Center for Natural Lands Management as a wildlife preserve and nature center; as of Jan 2010, it has now gone back to management by SB Co Parks.

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