Recreation Point
2Heads up2 fires, nearest 17 mi
- Right now
- OpenListed open; its database flags it not open
- Sites
- 4All of them booked ahead
- Season
- Year-roundOpen year-round
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 8 notices
In the agency’s own words
Recreation Point is nestled in a partially shaded cove overlooking the northern end of Bass Lake. It offers tent-only, overnight sites and picnic area for groups. The maximum group sizes range from 30-50 people per campsite and 50-100 people per picnic site. The camp consists of four sites on one loop: Knoll, Lagoon, Scout and Acorn. The group picnic areas, Cove, Oak Point and South Park, are on a separate loop. Keep reading
Recreation
Bass Lake offers a beach and boat ramp. Popular activities include swimming, motorized boating, canoeing, kayaking, water skiing, sailing and fishing for bass, trout, bluegill and catfish.
Recreation
Point has a designated swim area. Nearby hiking trails include Willow Creek, Goat Mountain, Spring Cove and Way-of-the-Mono Interpretive Trail. A variety of educational programs are offered on weekends during the summer.
Facilities
Each campsite has a water faucet, picnic tables and a large pedestal grill. The group picnic areas offer picnic tables and pedestal grills. The restrooms have flush toilets.
Natural Features
The Sierra National Forest, located on the western slope of the central Sierra Nevada, is known for its spectacular mountain scenery and abundant natural resources. The terrain includes rolling, oak-covered foothills, heavily forested middle elevation slopes and the starkly beautiful alpine landscape of the High Sierra.
Recreation
Point is located in the Bass Lake Ranger District at an elevation of 3,400 feet. Bass Lake is a very popular area known for its variety of fish, as well as the bald and golden eagles that make their home here.
Nearby Attractions
Yosemite National Park can be reached in under an hour, making it an ideal day trip from Bass Lake.
Charges & Cancellations
Rules & Reservation Policies As you make travel plans that include reservations on Recreation.gov, there are standard policies that apply to most locations of which you should be aware. Do keep in mind, however, that there are many exceptions, so it is best to review reservation information listed on individual facility pages for those policies and procedures that pertain to your specific locations. Any location or activity requiring a permit or lottery will have unique requirements and policies. Please check individual facility pages for pertinent information for those sites. Booking Window For most locations, you can reserve six months in advance of your stay for individual sites and 12 months in advance for group sites. There are some exceptions, so it is best to check with each facility. Change and Cancellation Policies and Fees Overnight and Day Use Facilities: To ensure fairness, reservation arrival or departure dates may not be changed beyond the booking window until 18 days after booking the reservation. Camping / Day Use: A $10.00 service fee will apply if you change or cancel your reservation (including campsites, cabins, lookouts, group facilities, etc.). The $10.00 service fee will be deducted from the refund amount. You can cancel or change reservations through Recreation.gov or by calling 1-877-444-6777. Tours & Tickets: You may request changes to tour dates at no cost before the arrival date. If you cancel before your tour date, you may be eligible for a refund. Cancellation fees apply. Please check the tour facility description details page for cancellation policies. Permits: Varies by location. Please check the permit details for the permit location. Late Cancellations Overnight and Day Use Facilities: Late cancellations are those cancelled between 12:01 a.m. (Eastern) on the day before arrival and check out time on the day after arrival. Individual Campsites: If a customer cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival they will be charged a $10.00 service fee and will also forfeit the first night's use fee (not to exceed the total paid for the original reservation). Cancellations for a single night's reservation will forfeit the entire use fee but no cancellation fee will apply. Cabins / Lookouts: Customers will be charged a $10.00 cancellation fee and forfeit the first night's use fee if a cabin or lookout reservation is cancelled within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date. Cancellations for a single night's use will not be assessed a service fee. Group Facility : If a customer cancels a group overnight facility reservation within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date they will be charged the $10.00 service fee and forfeit the first night's use fee. Cancellations for a single night's use will not be assessed a service fee. Group Day Use Area: If a customer cancels a group day use facility reservation within 14 days of the scheduled arrival date, they will forfeit the total day use fee with no service fee charge. No-Shows Camping / Day Use: A camping no-show customer is one who does not arrive at a campground and does not cancel the reservation by check-out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date. Reserved campsites and group overnight facilities will be held until check-out time on the day following your scheduled arrival. Group day-use facilities will be held until check-in time on your scheduled arrival date. If a customer does not arrive at the campground or group facility by check-out time the day after arrival or does not cancel the reservation by the times listed under "Late Cancellations" above, the customer may be assessed a $20.00 service fee and forfeit use fees. Tours: A tour or ticket no-show is one who does not cancel a ticket before arrival and does not arrive for the tour. Tour no-shows are not entitled to a refund. Refunds Customers must request refunds no later than 14 days after the scheduled departure date. Recreation.gov will not grant refund requests after 14 days of departure. Reservation Fee: For some facilities, tours or permits an additional reservation fee is charged. For some overnight and day-use facilities, an additional non-refundable reservation fee may apply. The non-refundable reservation fee for tours and tickets is $1.00. The non-refundable reservation fee for permits varies by location. Refunds for Bankcard Purchases: Refunds for bank card payments will be issued as a credit to the original bank card. Refunds for Check or Cash Purchases: Refunds for Recreation.gov payments made by check or money order, and cash payments at selected campgrounds will be issued a check refund. A refund will be processed within 30 days of receipt and approval. Please Note: Refund requests made during or after departure can only be processed when approved by the facility management staff based upon local policy. Refunds for Emergency Closures: In the event of an emergency closure, the Recreation.gov team will attempt to notify users and offer alternate dates (as appropriate). If this is not possible, reservations will be cancelled and all fees paid will be refunded. Reservation fees for free tickets are non-refundable in the event of an emergency closure. Recreation.gov Billing Information Reservation transaction will appear on customer's credit card statements as "Recreation.gov 877-444-6777." Changes to Policies and Procedures Recreation.gov reserves the right, when necessary, to modify reservation policies. These policies were last updated July
What the agency tells you
No RV parking allowed; autos only
A parking fee for each vehicle in the day use area will be collected.
Limit 2 pets per site on a six foot leash.
Everything else this campground posts · 5
Your reservation of a picnic site, or campsite, does not guarantee or include a exclusive use of any beach area/ or shoreline along the lake.
Fire restrictions may be imposed at any time due to hot, dry weather conditions, at which time campfires and charcoal fires may not be allowed. For current fire conditions or weather closures contact the Sierra National Forest Headquarters, (559) 297-0706.
Don't Move Firewood: Protect California's forests from tree-killing pests by buying your firewood locally and burning it on-site. For more information visit firewood.ca.gov.
Click here for more information about Sierra National Forest
Be bear aware; keep all food out of site in approved containers or locked inside your vehicle and remove all food from area after eating; always keep a clean camp and do not feed any wild animals.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 4 · 4 tent-only, 4 group
- Hookups
- None
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- FLUSH TOILETS on 7 of 7 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- DRINKING WATER on 7 of 7 campsite records
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Creek, Beach
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Ranger programs
- Swimming
- Water sports
13 of 14 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:03 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
OpenBooked
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 12
What you actually pay
“Camping / Day Use: A $10.00 service fee will apply if you change or cancel your reservation (including campsites, cabins, lookouts, group facilities, etc.). The $10.00 service fee will be deducted from the refund amount.” · this campground’s own no-show terms
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 6
recreation.gov availability, read 16:03 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
7 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 4 mapped sitesAll 7 records
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 4 of the 7 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| ACOR | Acorn | group tent only area nonelectric | 143 ft | 172 ft | $239–$397 |
| COVE | Cove | day use | 364 ftBass Lake | $131–$263 | |
| KNOL | Knoll | group tent only area nonelectric | 221 ft | 17 ft | $239–$397 |
| LAGO | Lagoon | group tent only area nonelectric | 143 ft | 34 ft | $239–$397 |
| OAKP | Oak Point Picnic | day use | 297 ftBass Lake | $131–$263 | |
| SCOU | Scout | group tent only area nonelectric | 200 ft | 149 ft | $239–$397 |
| SOUT | South Park Picnic | day use | 277 ftBass Lake | $131–$263 |
The agency files 3 more records here that aren’t sites for the night. It files them as day use. They’re in the table above, marked for what they are, and none of them is counted as a site.
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Crane ValleySierra National Forest · 0.5 mi
Forks Campground (Sierra)Sierra National Forest · 1.2 mi
LupineSierra National Forest · 2.2 mi
Cedar BluffSierra National Forest · 2.2 mi
Spring Cove2.8 mi
Wishon Bass LakeSierra National Forest · 3.3 miFrom Fresno, California, take Highway 41 north through Oakhurst. Turn right on Forest Road 222 toward Bass Lake. Keep right for 3.5 miles to the campground registration office.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Bass Lake, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 41°F, day 71°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 28°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Recreation Point is in California’s 5th congressional district. Its representative, Tom McClintock (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →