Bass Lake is the warmest swimmable water in this part of the Sierra Nevada and the locals know it. The reservoir covers about 1,165 acres behind Crane Valley Dam, which PG&E built across Willow Creek starting in 1901 and raised to its present height a decade later for hydroelectric storage. It sits at roughly 3,400 feet, low enough that the surface climbs into the upper 70s by late July and stays comfortable into September, and high enough that the pines come down to the waterline. The Sierra National Forest manages the recreation around it, and the lake has a village, a marina, rental docks and a genuine summer crowd.

The north end is the quieter side and where this listing points. There are informal beaches along the shore near Recreation Point where the bank flattens into sand and decomposed granite, and the water is shallow enough there to warm early in the season. Further around, the Falls Beach and Rocky Point day-use areas have parking, vault toilets and picnic tables, and the Denver Church Picnic Area has a swim area with a lawn. Nothing on this lake is lifeguarded. Forest Service day-use lots charge a parking fee, generally around ten dollars, and the paved shoulder pullouts along Road 222 and Road 274 fill on weekends.

Early in the season the water runs amber. Willow Creek drains a forested watershed and carries leaf tannins into the lake, so through May and June the color is tea rather than blue; it clears as summer goes on. The other seasonal factor is the drawdown. PG&E pulls the reservoir down through late summer and fall, and by October the beaches are wide and the boat ramps are long walks. June through August is the window.

Four Forest Service campgrounds ring the lake: Forks, Lupine, Spring Cove and the Recreation Point group camp, all reserved through recreation.gov and all within walking distance of water. Sites are under ponderosa and incense cedar and book out months ahead for July weekends. The lake permits motorboats and it is a serious waterskiing and wakeboarding lake, so the middle gets busy and choppy by mid-morning; paddlers do better in the coves at either end, early.

The walk worth making starts at the north end near Recreation Point. A trail follows Willow Creek up to Angel Falls, a run of granite chutes and pools about a mile in, and continues to Devils Slide and Corlieu Falls further along. The creek pools look inviting and people swim them, but the granite is polished and slick and the current in the chutes is stronger than it appears, which is a bad combination in high water. Wait until the creek is low, in late summer.

The village of Bass Lake at the southwest corner has a store, restaurants and the Pines Resort. Oakhurst is five miles west on Highway 41 with full services, and the Yosemite south entrance and the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias are about twenty miles north, which is why so many Yosemite trips end with an afternoon on this lake.