Trimmer: The Ghost Town Beneath Pine Flat Lake (Sort Of)

When Pine Flat Dam (Kings River, Fresno County, CA) filled in 1954, it didn't drown a town center—but it claimed Trimmer, a historic foothill settlement.

The Real Story

• Location: Trimmer sat northeast of the current lake, a few hundred feet above the high-water line, along the Kings River canyon.
• What Was Lost: The Trimmer Springs Resort (hotel, bathhouse, dance hall)—a 1920s mineral springs destination. The post office, store, school, and scattered homesteads. The railroad grade (Southern Pacific never completed).
• "Beneath the Lake"? Not directly. The townsite is on the slopes above the reservoir. Only the lowest riverfront structures and the old highway bridge abutments are submerged at full pool.
• Preservation: Because it wasn't deeply inundated, foundations, stone walls, and orchard remnants remain visible when the lake draws down (drought years). One of few "accessible" inundated sites in the US.

Today

Trimmer is a dispersed camping/hiking area (Trimmer Springs Road). Hikers find concrete pads, fruit trees, the spring box. The lake recreated the "resort" vibe—houseboats now anchor where the hotel stood. The name lives on: Trimmer Campground, Trimmer Springs Bridge.