Bass Lake Weekend Itinerary

This Bass Lake Weekend Itinerary summarizes a simple camping trip in an old haunt in the vicinity of Oakhurst near the South Entrance of Yosemite National Park.

You see, this place used to be a last-minute place to stay if camping or staying within the boundaries of Yosemite National Park wasn’t possible (we managed to accomplish this on a Memorial Day Weekend back in 1999), but these days, this place is popular enough on its own that you need to have advanced bookings.

In any case, we managed to incorporate a couple of different waterfall excursions even though we were well into the Summer Season (where precipitation is rare unless it’s a Summer thunderstorm).

Nevertheless, the main purpose of this trip was to spend quality time as a family and letting the kids play all in and around Bass Lake.

The following is our brief summary of what we managed to do on this trip…

Trip Map

Trip Highlights

Corlieu and Red Rock Falls – it took a bit of a race against darkness to visit both of these waterfalls on the day of our arrival to Bass Lake, but it was definitely a satisfying experience and a nice way to kick off this trip. I always say our trips don’t begin until we visit a waterfall, and this was the icebreaker of this trip!

Angel Falls and Devil’s Slide – this was the waterfall highlight of Bass Lake, but it actually required a bit of an adventure to fully appreciate. Nevertheless, this place has blown up on the socials recently, and as you can see, there’s a good reason why.

The Camping Experience – this was an opportunity for the kids to hang out with each other and enjoy BBQ along with smores by the campfire. This is what car camping is all about, and of course the adults also enjoyed the experience.

Swimming in Bass Lake – this was something the kids really enjoyed and looked forward to as they got to play in a shallow part of the lake away from the boat traffic, and it was the perfect antidote for the hot Summer temperatures when you’re talking about the month of August. Indeed, this was the kind of experience that got the kids asking to do another trip like this again after it was over…

Trip Advice

This was a simple camping trip, but one thing we’ve learned over the years is that camping has become harder and harder to do given the relative lack of camping spaces and the increased interest in doing this kind of activity from more and more people.

So given that, here’s some lessons learned from this trip…

Book in Advance: Gone are the days that you could secure a camping spot in Bass Lake at the last-minute as a walk-in (something we managed to pull off on Memorial Day Weekend in 1999). Indeed, in this case, we had to score a place when they started opening up slots on recreation.gov. Thus, you’ll definitely need to be plan in advance, make the bookings, and then keep an eye out on the weather and fire conditions so you can cancel if need be (even if the cancellations won’t be a full refund).

Darkness: I did manage to get caught out in the dark when coming back from my Corlieu and Red Rock Falls hike. Despite Summers having long days, it tends to get darker more quickly in the mountains, and that was indeed the case with me when I returned to the campsite after 8pm (even though other parts of California still wouldn’t be quite dark at that time). So don’t underestimate this aspect of playing in the mountains because it can be downright dangerous to be caught in the dark in the mountains, especially when dealing with things like mountain lions, lack of visibility making trail hazards harder to see, etc.

Willow Creek Hazards: There was a sign near the trailhead for Willow Creek saying that people have died here and that one should not underestimate the hazards of Willow Creek. My niece managed to slip and fall in one such shallow part of the creek, and Dad managed to sacrifice his smart phone making sure to keep her out of harm’s way. That’s just one small example of how Nature can be unforgiving when it comes to life-and-death situations, and it’s up to you to be cognizant of the hazards and respect them!

Travel Itinerary

Day 1: Drive from Los Angeles to Bass Lake

Overnight: Bass Lake Campground (Bass Lake, California, USA)

This was basically a driving day, but we did manage to get to the campsite early enough for us to set up the tents and for me to visit Corlieu and Red Rock Falls before it got dark. In parallel, my parents, niece and nephew met up at the campsite so we got to have dinner as well as smores at the end of the day.

Day 2: Day at leisure at Bass Lake

Overnight: Bass Lake Campground (Bass Lake, California, USA)

We started off the morning visiting both the Angel Falls and Devil’s Slide on Willow Creek, and then we spent the better part of the afternoon swimming and playing in Bass Lake. Then, we spent a second night having camp dinner and smores over campfire before calling it a night.

Day 3: Return to Los Angeles

This was nothing more than a day to collapse camp, clean up, and then drive home…