San Joaquin River Bluffs

This morning on the way to work I visited a vacant lot in the Palm Bluffs area that Gavin found owl's clover in. On the way home I looked for a road that I heard gives public access to the San Joaquin River right behind GB3 and west of Spano Overlook Park. Sure enough there is a dirt road right down to the river. I can't believe after living in Fresno for 36 years, working near the bluffs for 5 and looking for river access many times I missed this spot. You can follow this link to a bird's eye view of the intersection during development of GB3 and just pan to the West to get to the river.

It looks like it would be fairly easy to launch a kayak or canoe in this spot. There were ten other cars at parked there when I visited at 5pm on a weekday so it's certainly not a secret spot. I also saw a bunch of teenagers with army helmets and Jedi robes running around. Not sure what that was about.

Previously I'd arrived at this same spot from a less legal approach across a nearby undeveloped property that has an open gate on the bluffs. That time I talked to a fisherman with all his gear strapped to a moped. The approach on the bluffs is a great spot to photograph datura (Jemson weed) late in the Summer. Monday night I returned empty handed for the third consecutive time fly-fishing on the lower Kings River so I think I'll be trying out this much closer fishing option a try very soon.

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