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| City of Canyon Lake Website |
Recently, the Temecula Valley Prospectors Club's latest metal detecting trip, hosted by John and Mary Bucholzer, took place at Beautiful Canyon Lake in Southern California. This is a place that is also known as the Railroad Canon Reservoir with a history that goes all the way back to 1927 when the Railroad Canyon Dam was built. A natural reservoir was created by runoff from the rain water that pours in from the San Jacinto River as it flows from the mountains east of Hemet. This flow winds its way through Perris Valley and ends up at Lake Elsinore. The winter precipitation causes the Salt Creek to merge with the San Jacinto at Canyon Lake, a territory that amasses to about 383 acres with 15 miles of beautiful shoreline. Today, it is owned and operated by the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District.
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| City of Canyon Lake Website |
The Santa Fe Railroad, the abbreviated reference to the famous Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe Railway, bought the California Southern Railroad, originally built back in 1882, which ran along the east side of the river the Perris Valley to Lake Elsinore. This line was joined with the San Bernardino line, but after flood waters repeatedly washed out the tracks, the line was finally abandoned. This lead to the sale of the line to the Temescal Water Company, which is when dam construction was started with the intent of storing all this runoff. The end results were the two parcels of land that comprise most of what makes Canyon Lake today.
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| Photo Credit: Google Earth |
California has only five gated cities in existence, and Canyon Lake happens to be one of them. This is a fully governed city with a master-planned community that was developed by the Corona Land Company back in 1968. Canyon Lake wasn't actually incorporated until 1990. Even so, it is a recreation community that has a population of almost 11,000 people who enjoy the amenities of a fully stocked lake surrounded by stunning homes, a lovely lodge with restaurant and banquet facilities, a grand Olympic-sized swimming pool, an 18-hole golf course, a 10-acre equestrian center, and plentiful campgrounds, beautiful beaches and peaceful parks.
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| Photo Credit: Club Member Doug |
Among the many parks, the Temecula Valley Prospectors enjoyed their Second Annual Metal Detecting Hunt at Sierra Park with its accompanying beach, a sight to behold as well as a site expansive enough to accommodate the largest club group to date: 52 treasure hunters. This crowd was comprised of a wide variety of experienced metal detecting treasure seekers who were more than happy to share their skills with newcomers. This made for a satisfied of group of hunters seeking the salted treasures in the sands at the water's edge.
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| Photo Credit: Club Member Doug |
The day was a great success as it offered up a wealth of coins of every denomination, including half-dollar and dollar coins. To keep things interesting, there were a few foreign coins and tokens salted in the mix. Congratulations to those diligent treasure hunters who, by their efforts, managed to find coins that remained from the previous year's hunt. Amongst the treasures were casino poker chips that represented the bonus Grand Prize award of $25 gift certificates.
Careful planning enabled the group to enjoy two treasure hunting sessions that lasted throughout the day at the park, one on the right side of the beach and one on the left. With a group this large, there is an added benefit on the grounds of the scrap metal and other bits and pieces being removed from the shoreline. Given that this is a fishing lake, there was plenty of line with their attached lures and hooks, along with the odd rusted nail and a whole host of other miscellaneous items. The treasure hunters typically leave an area cleaner and safer than the way they found it. It is always comforting to know that the presence of metal detecting parties leaves a place safer for future beach combers who likely enjoy running around in the sands sans kicks (without shoes). |
On a day like this, there was the great enjoyment of the bountiful pot-luck feast of food and refreshment. At the end of the day, a good time was had by all. The Temecula Valley Prospectors are grateful to Cynthia for sponsoring this group on such a fun and fruitful day. Without her qualified support, this memorable event could not have taken place. Many thanks. Also, appreciation goes out to Cliff for donating two of his Silver Eagle coins that ended up as the prize drawings awarded to John and Ken.
This was a day of great fun and memories and leaves us all anxious for the next outing scheduled for November.
