About Bassi Falls
Bassi Falls was one of those fun waterfalls that had the scenery as well as the chance to play in the water.
It was where the Bassi Fork cascaded 130ft over a series of disjointed drops on granite that made it look smaller in pictures than in real life.
Yet with this waterfall, I’d say it was more about the atmosphere and the overall surroundings that made the experience.
Indeed, just downstream from Bassi Falls were a series of pools, ponds, and water holes filling in potholes as well as grooves in the granite bedrock.
They provided the perfect spot to play in the water and cool off from the Summer heat while doing all this with the background noise and backdrop of the Bassi Falls itself.
In a way, we felt like this was kind of a smaller but more accessible and fun version of the Horsetail Falls near South Lake Tahoe.
Having come to Bassi Falls right after the Horsetail Falls, I guess we didn’t expect much going into this hike.
But all that changed when we arrived and simply enjoyed the festive atmosphere as it seemed like people of all ages walked out of here with smiles on their faces.
Neither Mom nor I could recall there being a swimming hole this scenic and fun at the same time, and it reminded us of the appeal of Summertime swimming holes in general.
It was certainly one spot where I felt like my wife and daughter really missed out!
Bassi Falls left such a positive impression on us that we rated it the same as the much larger but less swim-friendly Horsetail Falls.
Hiking to Bassi Falls
As for accessing Bassi Falls, there were three different trailhead options.
Each of these options had varying levels of risk and reward, which we’ll get into when describing the driving directions below.
Basically, the risks boiled down to the potential for damage to your vehicle.
The reward was how much less hiking you’d have to do to reach the falls.
And the decision ultimately came down to how much you think the potential damage to your vehicle was worth the reduced hiking.
In our case, we actually explored all three options, but we ultimately settled on the longest hike option from the Millionaire Camp, which wound up being two miles each way (or 4 miles round trip).
Mom and I ended up spending about 3 hours away from the car, but at least an hour of that time was spent just enjoying this waterfall.
Had my wife and daughter been here, I could easily envisioning us spending the entire afternoon here!
Nevertheless, we’ll provide the detailed trail description going from the Millionaire Camp to Bassi Falls.
Bassi Falls Trail Description – from the Millionaire Camp to an intermediate waterfall
After finding parking at the Millionaire Camp, we then followed a pretty straightforward trail indicating that Bassi Falls was two miles away.
Initially, the trail skirted the edges of a grove of trees between Bassi Creek and the trail itself.
Unlike the Horsetail Falls Trail in the Desolation Wilderness, this trail was far easier to follow as there were plenty of diamond-shaped hiking signs along the way.
Most of the trail was pretty flat with a few mild uphill sections.
Every so often, we would catch glimpses of Bassi Creek or even hear the sounds of rushing water where there might have been minor cascades tumbling unseen amongst the overgrowth separating us from the creek.
At around 0.7 miles from the Millionaire Camp, we reached a trail junction with a shorter trail that came from the Towering Rocks Trailhead Parking 0.3 miles away.
Had we parked the car and started the hike from there, it would have been a 3.2-mile round trip hike.
That would have saved about 0.8 miles of hiking when compared to the Millionaire Camp approach that we wound up taking.
Anyways, we continued on the main trail as it would meander amongst a combination of groves of trees providing some shade from the hot sun as well as open sections with no relief from the heat.
After another half-mile of hiking, we reached a lookout with a direct view of a wide but rounded waterfall.
At first, we thought this waterfall was the Bassi Falls, but it turned out to be just an attractive intermediate waterfall.
Luckily for us, we didn’t make the mistake of turning back early thinking this was the one.
This intermediate waterfall on Bassi Creek was a nice swimming hole in its own right.
After all, it had the picturesque waterfall (maybe 15-20ft or so) with a calm plunge pool that seemed to be relatively quiet and not too overrun with bathers.
In order to reach the plunge pool, there was an informal scramble alongside the falls after continuing on the main trail for another 500ft or so ultimately accessing this waterfall’s brink.
The scramble alongside the falls was a fairly tame friction pitch eventually leading to the protruding slabs of granite fringing the calm plunge pool.
Bassi Falls Trail Description – from the intermediate waterfall to the main waterfall
Back up at the main trail, we continued hiking through more undulating patches of forest and open granite (with hints of domes in the distance).
At about 0.3 miles from that intermediate waterfall on Bassi Creek, we reached yet another trail junction.
This time, the trail coming from the left was the closest trailhead parking to Bassi Falls at a mere 1/2-mile away.
Continuing on the main trail, the granite terrain became even more pronounced as we started to see the impressive Bassi Falls in the distance.
The closer to the falls that we got, the more that we could see the overflowing streams streaking over the granite surface while some of this overflow filled in wading pools and swimming holes.
Finally after about two miles of hiking from the trailhead (taking us a little over an hour), we finally arrived at the base of Bassi Falls.
Like with Horsetail Falls, we were able to see more of the entirety of the waterfall from further downstream as we were approaching it.
However, it was only when we got close to the falls that we could interact with it.
In other words, we appreciated the cool spray, the volume of Bassi Creek, and the shade and swimming holes that dozens of other people were enjoying at the height of a pretty hot Summer day.
The timing of our visit was such that we were benefitting from snowmelt from relatively late Spring storms.
So it’s conceivable that the falls would lose much of its vigor deeper into the Summer months.
Still, there was no denying the fun scene that unfolded before us as it seemed like everyone was having a good time.
The water was icy cold to dip our feet into, but then it started to feel real good compared to the 80+ degree day that we were experiencing.
We easily spent a solid hour just chilling out at Bassi Falls, and it was the kind of scene that we didn’t want to leave.
Mom and I kept thinking that Julie and Tahia really missed out on this one as I could easily envision at least Tahia spending an entire afternoon here not wanting to leave.
Anyways, when we finally had our fill of this spot, we quickly made our return hike back to the Millionaire Camp.
We’d eventually get there after spending nearly 3 hours away from the car.
If there was one waterfalling experience that we’d like to re-experience with more loved ones participating, it would be Bassi Falls.
Authorities
Bassi Falls resides in the Eldorado National Forest near South Lake Tahoe in El Dorado County, California. It is administered by the USDA Forest Service. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.
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Nice walk to a beautiful falls (Bassi Falls) May 28, 2017 9:03 pm - My son and I drove up from Sacramento for a day hike. The drive was a less than an hour and a half, and all but the last little bit is paved. This was Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, so the cul-de-sac mentioned above was filled with cars. We turned down to Millionaire Camp (not… ...Read MoreNearest Waterfalls
