Things to Do in Lakeside, California

The best things to do in Lakeside

Lakeside’s appeal is outdoors. Most visitors come for one or more of these:

• Walk or birdwatch at Lindo Lake County Park in the center of town.
• Fish, camp or hike the lakeshore at Lake Jennings.
• Picnic and hike the Historic Flume Trail at El Monte County Park.
• Take on the long, strenuous ridgeline trail at El Capitan County Preserve.
• Kayak, canoe or shore fish at El Capitan Reservoir.
• Learn about Lakeside’s rodeo tradition, run today by the nonprofit El Capitan Stadium Association.

Lindo Lake County Park

Lindo Lake is the town’s namesake and its main gathering place. The county describes it as one of San Diego’s few natural lakes, split into two basins: the west basin holds most of the water, while the east basin fills as an overflow after heavy rain.

Birdwatching is the highlight. Herons, pelicans, egrets, geese, ruddy ducks and American coots are common, and the county lists rarer visitors such as cinnamon teal, stilts and avocets. The park also has family and group picnic areas, a children’s playground, a skate park, a softball field, tennis courts, horseshoe pits, a butterfly garden, 17 outdoor fitness stations and 1.5 miles of ADA-friendly multi-use trails, plus a kids’ TRACK Trail scavenger hunt.

Practical notes: the park is open sunrise to sunset daily at 12660 Lindo Lane. Alcohol is not allowed except at events inside the community center. The county expects construction on west basin improvements to begin in fall 2026 and finish by winter 2027, so check the county’s project page for any closures.

Lake Jennings

Lake Jennings is a drinking-water reservoir whose watershed supplies water to more than a quarter of a million people. For visitors, it is a fishing and camping lake. Trout stocking begins around November and runs through early April, and catfish are stocked in the warmer months, when the lake runs a night-fishing program. Anglers also catch largemouth bass, red-ear sunfish and bluegill, and the lake record is an 84.4-pound blue catfish caught in January 2020.

Hikers can circle the lake on a relatively flat 5.15-mile trail, or follow the old flume bench, which runs about 5 miles east along the ridge above El Monte Valley. The 97-space campground on the north shore is open year-round for RVs, trailers and tents.

Check the lake’s permit and license requirements before you cast. Hours differ for the campground and for lake fishing and boating, so check the lake’s website before you go.

El Monte County Park and the Historic Flume Trail

East of town along El Monte Road, El Monte County Park spreads 88 acres of lawns, mature trees, playgrounds, a ball field and covered pavilions beneath the rocky face of El Cajon Mountain. It is one of the original properties in the county parks system.

The Historic Flume Trail climbs the hillside past the Depression-era El Monte Pump Station to the slope where the San Diego Flume once ran. Interpretive panels explain how the wooden flume, opened in 1889, carried water from the Cuyamaca Mountains toward San Diego. Hours are 9:30 a.m. to sunset daily, and day-use parking is $5. For more detail, see our full El Monte County Park guide.

El Capitan County Preserve and El Capitan Reservoir

El Capitan County Preserve, entered from Blue Sky Ranch Road, is Lakeside’s big hike: about 11 miles of trail along a granite ridgeline across 2,619 acres, with views of three reservoirs, the ocean and the mountains. At about 3.5 miles a spur leads to three old mine shafts. The county calls it strenuous, with very little shade and up to six hours to complete. It opens at 8 a.m. and closes every August because of extreme heat.

Nearby El Capitan Reservoir is run by the City of San Diego. Completed in 1935, it covers 1,562 surface acres when full. Shore fishing, canoes, kayaks and float tubes are allowed, but the boat ramp is closed due to low water. The reservoir closes the first Friday of each month and on several holidays, including Christmas Day.

Lakeside’s rodeo history

Lakeside has a cowboy streak. According to The East County Californian, the first rodeo in Lakeside took place in 1920, held in makeshift corrals before a proper arena was built. Today the Lakeside Rodeo is run by the El Capitan Stadium Association, a nonprofit whose stated aim is to benefit the youth of Lakeside.

The rodeo is not a December event, so check the rodeo’s own website for its schedule if you want to plan a return trip.

A one-day Lakeside itinerary

Lakeside’s parks are close enough together to string into a single unhurried day:

• Morning: walk the shoreline trail at Lindo Lake while the birds are most active.
• Late morning: drive out El Monte Road to El Monte County Park and climb the Historic Flume Trail, reading the panels as you go.
• Lunch: picnic on the lawns at El Monte, with El Cajon Mountain overhead.
• Afternoon: head to Lake Jennings for a lakeside walk or a few hours of trout fishing in season.
• Fitter hikers can swap the afternoon for El Capitan County Preserve, but start that hike early in the day.

Lakeside in December

Winter is a comfortable time for Lakeside’s trails, though nights are chilly; NOAA’s normals for nearby El Cajon put the average December low around 42°F. Trout season is under way at Lake Jennings, and on December 5-6 and 12-13, 2026, El Monte County Park hosts the Yuletide Medieval Festival, a living-history holiday event set in England in 1420.

One more note for holiday planning: El Monte County Park and El Capitan County Preserve have no public vehicle access or restrooms on December 25.

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