Live cameras in Lake Elsinore, United States

Lake Elsinore is a city of about 70,000 people in western Riverside County, built around the lake of the same name, the largest natural freshwater lake in Southern California. The lake gathers the water of the San Jacinto River and is framed by the Elsinore Mountains, part of the Santa Ana range, on the west and the lower Temescal Mountains on the east. Founded in the 1880s and once known for its hot springs resorts, the town is now a growing commuter city between the Inland Empire and San Diego County, with a minor league ballpark that is home to the Lake Elsinore Storm and a long tradition of skydiving, motocross and gliding from its east end.

Its cameras are part of the Caltrans network and are published through the agency's CWWP2 feed, mostly as still pictures that refresh every few minutes. Interstate 15 is the main road through the city, carrying traffic between Corona, Temecula and San Diego, and many of the views look over its lanes and ramps. State Route 74, the winding Ortega Highway, climbs west from town over the mountains toward San Juan Capistrano, and its eastern end runs on toward Perris and Hemet.

When to look

The city is on Pacific Time. Weekday mornings bring heavy northbound traffic toward Orange County and Los Angeles, and the southbound return builds through the afternoon. Summers are hot and dry, and the hills above the lake can carry wildfire smoke in autumn when Santa Ana winds blow. After a wet winter, the hills of Walker Canyon just north of town can be covered in orange poppies in March and April; the bloom of 2019 drew so many visitors that freeway traffic backed up for miles.

• Late afternoon: sunlight across the lake and mountains.
• Spring after rain: green hills and wildflowers.

Nearby, Temecula's wine country lies about twenty minutes south along the interstate.

Sources: Lake Elsinore, California - Wikipedia · City of Lake Elsinore · Caltrans QuickMap.