Moccasin
Moccasin can thank its existence to the city of San Francisco. In fact, this is a little piece of San Francisco because that city’s Hetch Hetchy power and water project is here and so are city employees who work for that project. Here in Moccasin you’ll see an old power plant and a nearby upgraded facility still very much in operation. You’ll see the massive water pipes that drop from the top of Priest Grade to the turbines below. These turbines continue to generate electricity to distant San Francisco and other bay area communities. The water comes deep from the Sierra including a piece of Yosemite National Park. The public is invited to use the picnic tables here and learn more about the vast Hetch Hetchy project that was originally authorized back in 1913 and took more than 20 years to complete.
Moccasin is also home to a fish hatchery operated by the California Department of Fish and Game. Mesh nets keep birds away from the millions of fish raised here. For years, there were no nets and, strangely enough, birds didn’t bother the fish. Then, several years ago, the birds suddenly realized the easy pickin’s. That’s when Fish & Game officials realized they needed the nets.