Lake Hemet
San Bernadino National Forest
Riverside County, California

            Lake Hemet is in the San Bernadino National Forest in Riverside County, California. The elevation is 4,340 feet and nestled in the San Jacinto Mountains. Two "Bonanza" episodes were filmed at the lake in 1959. The first episode was "The Truckee Strip" with James Coburn and Michael Landon, filmed in September of 1959. The cast did the first ride-up shots on horseback for the opening credits on the show. Today that part of the lakeshore is a campground. You can see Thomas Mountain behind Ben. The jetty of land with the trees behind them is the southeast shore of the lake. It was a drought year. The second and final episode filmed at Lake Hemet was "Feet of Clay" with Dan Blocker and David Ladd.