Brandy Creek Beach is the busiest of the official swim beaches on Whiskeytown Lake, inside Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, which the National Park Service runs about 8 miles west of Redding in Shasta County. The beach lies on the lake's south shore where Brandy Creek flows in: a long run of shaded sand with Brandy Creek Marina just to the north. Whiskeytown Lake is a Central Valley Project reservoir with about 37 miles of shoreline, and by midsummer the surface water can get close to 80 degrees F.

From Interstate 5 in Redding, follow Highway 299 west about 8 miles to the Whiskeytown Visitor Center, turn left onto Kennedy Memorial Drive, and stay on it across the dam and along the south shore for roughly five miles to the Brandy Creek turnoff. Two paved lots hold around 200 cars, and they fill on hot weekends. In summer the RABA Route 19 Beach Bus runs free between downtown Redding and the beach on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays (holidays excluded). At the end of October the park closes the beach to vehicles for the winter. You can still walk in, but the beach restrooms and fountains are shut off; the restroom at the gravel lot at Kennedy Memorial Drive and Brandy Creek Road stays open.

The swim area is roped off and closed to boats, with a sand bottom. It is much shallower than it was before the 2018 Carr Fire. The winter after the fire brought about 90 inches of rain to the burned slopes, and the sediment that washed down Brandy Creek settled right here, so there is now a long wading zone. It still gets deep farther out: in 2015 a swimmer drowned in about 12 feet of water inside the designated area. The park has staffed lifeguards here in past summers, but current coverage is not posted, so keep a close eye on children. A free youth life jacket loaner program runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Dogs, alcohol and smoking (vaping included) are not allowed on the beach.

This is not a free beach. Every visitor needs an entrance pass, and rangers enforce it. A private vehicle pass is $25 and covers everyone in the car for 7 days. Motorcycles are $20, and people arriving on foot or by bike pay $15 each (under 16 free). A $55 annual pass also works at Lassen Volcanic, Crater Lake and Lava Beds, and America the Beautiful passes are honored. Buy passes at the Visitor Center, on Recreation.gov, or at the beach store in summer. The recreation area itself is open year-round, 24 hours a day.

The park tests the water at its swim beaches every week from May through September. Swim advisories are rare, but this beach has had two for elevated E. coli, in 2018 and again in early summer 2025 (lifted July 8, 2025), with Canada geese a suspected source. Brandy Creek Beach also produces most of the swimmer's itch complaints the park gets each summer. The rash comes from a parasite carried by waterfowl, and a shower right after swimming helps; the beach has showers.

In summer a concession store sells ice cream, drinks and beach gear and rents kayaks and paddleboards. There are shaded picnic tables with grills, accessible picnic sites on paved paths, and a beach wheelchair you can borrow from the store with a photo ID. The Brandy Creek RV Campground (no hookups) is close by, the marina has a boat launch, and Brandy Creek Road climbs to a primitive tent campground and the Brandy Creek Falls trailhead.