That sounds like a healthy walk if you have a bunch of fishing gear. I'm glad we can park a lot closer to most of the lakes around here. Yes, we have lake front houses around some of the lakes up here, including Donner Lake and the big one, Lake Tahoe. There are no houses around most of the smaller lakes and reservoirs in the area but there are plenty 4x4 trails to their shorelines for fishing. The lakes with houses do also have public beaches and piers so there's plenty of fun to be had.

We get a ton of fresh water draining out of our lakes and filling back into them from the snow melt. The water quality isn't perfect but it's pretty good compared to most lakes. But don't drink it unfiltered...

Oh, 2-stroke boat motors aren't allowed on most of the lakes around here. There are a few lakes that allow them as well as the 4-stroke.

When backpacking or camping, I will drink filtered water out of any of our lakes or streams, no problem. But filtered tap water is what I usually have in my water bottle. Cheers! (What's Russian for "cheers"? It's the weekend...)