City of Berkeley's Echo Camp Near Lake Tahoe Faces Large Fee Hike

The City of Berkeley's camp at Echo Lake, located at the top of Echo Summit just west of South Lake Tahoe, has long been a tradition for many families to visit and vacation.

It's also been one of the lowest cost family camp bay area families could attend, but that may be history after Tuesday night's Berkeley City Council meeting.

The Rim Fire near Yosemite last summer took out the city's Tuolumne Camp. About 4,000 people attended that camp annually, bringing in $800,000 in revenue to the city. Since there will be no camp there this year, or perhaps for many years, the City Council is faced with a choice tonight.

They are proposing to raise fees by 76%, bringing the cost of $54 per adult and free for kids to $95 for adults and $53 for kids. The raised rates will compensate for the lost revenue of Tuolumne as well as for additional services needed for the Echo Camp.