Nice, CA

Nice is a census-designated place on the north shore of Clear Lake in Lake County, about two miles southeast of Upper Lake. The 2020 census counted 2,929 residents. The community began as Clear Lake Villas, a subdivision recorded in 1922, and Charles William Bayne later gave it the name of his former home in France. The post office arrived in 1930, helping the lakefront settlement take on a more permanent local shape. Summer lake traffic and winter shoreline weather give the place a different pulse from inland Upper Lake.

ATTRtawnn / CC BY 3.0

Clear Lake is the main character here: boats, fishing, changing light, and the broad water basin all sit just beyond the streets. The nearby Upper Lake road leads north toward the Mendocino National Forest, while Lake County roads keep Nice tied to the rest of the shore communities. Nice is a lake-country place with a French name, a subdivision-era beginning, and a front-row seat to one of California's oldest natural lakes.