# WM Bass Lake, Yosemite and Sequoia Nat'l Parks



## presley (Jun 3, 2014)

I just did a visit to WM Bass Lake (excellent), Yosemite and a quick stop to Sequoia Nat'l park on the way home.  I did submit a review for WM Bass Lake in our ultra secret members only timeshare reviews.  

Bass Lake area in general is drop dead gorgeous.  Even with the drought and the lake down, there is a level of beauty there that is remarkable.  If I lived closer, I'd visit there frequently.  The Worldmark is excellent by my standards.  There aren't granite countertops, but you do get gorgeous surroundings, excellent customer service and gas grill right on your own patio.  

The Yosemite Valley is about 45 miles from the Bass Lake resort.  It's a nice drive because of the scenery.  There are free buses in the valley that you can hop off and on throughout your visit so you will have less walking.  I saw the 2 big waterfalls and that was it.  They said they are at about 20% of normal precipitation.  Butterflies were everywhere and the deer aren't timid around all the people.  There's a Valley Floor Tour tram/bus for $25./pp that offers a narration of the area.  They seemed more focused on talking about the rock climbers, but there were some interesting things with that.

Mariposa Grove in Yosemite is about 15 miles from WM Bass Lake.  They also offer a tram/bus tour.  Here they charge $26.50/pp.  The walk here is all uphill until you return and you can pay the full price to just take the ride to the top of the area and walk back.  I preferred this area to the Valley because of the sequoias and deer.  I suffer from vertigo and this place will really set that off!  you really need to tilt your head far back to see the height of the trees.  

Sequoia National Park is so much quieter and less commercial than Yosemite.  We only drove into the Giant Forest and then came out the way we went in because we were heading home from Bass Lake and already had many hours of car time in store.  There was a prescribed burn going right were we were in Sequoia - right next to the museum.  It was very interesting to watch.  My son and I did a trail there that is only about 3/4 mile loop.  It was actually must prettier than Mariposa Grove, which was breathtaking.  I didn't see any wildlife other than birds, a chipmunk and a billion flying thing (mostly butterfiles).  We seemed to see more wildlife in Yosemite, but we were at the prescribed burn in Sequoia, so maybe that is why we didn't see a lot.  We heard some trees fall from the burn.  My husband actually saw one tumbling down the hill a little bit.  It's a very small fire and very well controlled.

If anyone has any questions about any of these places, I'll try to answer.  I tend to really enjoy being where I am and then I forget to take pictures.  I do have a few of Yosemite and my son took a short video of the prescribed burn in Sequoia which maybe I can figure out how to upload .


----------



## sue1947 (Jun 3, 2014)

Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip.  I'll be there in Sept and have been trying to decide if the drive to Sequoia is worth it for a daytrip from Bass Lake.  How long did it take you to drive there?  What route did you take?  Down to Fresno and back up or did you cut across?   We would be going to see the drive down along the South Fork Kings River which I suspect is at least a 3 hour drive but am not sure how fast the road getting to the park are.  Thanks for any info.

Sue


----------



## buzglyd (Jun 3, 2014)

I've ridden my motorcycle from top to bottom in Yosemite twice. I really is gorgeous but can get crowded in the summer months.

Sequioa is totally worth the trip to me. 

Just seeing the size of those trees is jaw-dropping.


----------



## melissy123 (Jun 3, 2014)

Is the entrance to Yosemite National Park 45 minutes away, or is the actual Yosemite Valley (like Curry Village area) 45 minutes away?

Thanks for the trip report.  I've wondered about staying at this resort for the year I can't get a camping reservation in the Valley, 5 months out, and all the sites are gone in a millisecond over the internet reservation system.


----------



## presley (Jun 3, 2014)

sue1947 said:


> Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip.  I'll be there in Sept and have been trying to decide if the drive to Sequoia is worth it for a daytrip from Bass Lake.  How long did it take you to drive there?  What route did you take?  Down to Fresno and back up or did you cut across?   We would be going to see the drive down along the South Fork Kings River which I suspect is at least a 3 hour drive but am not sure how fast the road getting to the park are.  Thanks for any info.
> 
> Sue


We did go down to Fresno and cut across to the Sequoia entrance.  It took about 2 1/2 hours to get to entrance.  There is another route from Bass Lake that enters at King's Canyon.  It should be a shorter drive.  Remember to gas up before entering the park.  The roads are very curvy and lots of parts have a 10 mile per hour posted speed limit.  It takes a lot longer to get around inside than Yosemite.

If you have enough time at Bass Lake to allow for a full day out, I think you will enjoy it.  It's a very long car day, but you can spend a lot of time in the park to make up for it.


buzglyd said:


> I've ridden my motorcycle from top to bottom in Yosemite twice. I really is gorgeous but can get crowded in the summer months.
> 
> Sequioa is totally worth the trip to me.
> 
> Just seeing the size of those trees is jaw-dropping.



I agree.  The trees are amazing and there are places that I didn't get to see like the crystal cavern and King's canyon.   I would like to go again when I have a full day or even an overnight stay.  I knew it would be pretty, but there was also a feeling up there that was very good/serene.  I won't go as a side trip on the way to or from somewhere again.  There just wasn't enough time to really enjoy it.


----------



## presley (Jun 3, 2014)

melissy123 said:


> Is the entrance to Yosemite National Park 45 minutes away, or is the actual Yosemite Valley (like Curry Village area) 45 minutes away?
> 
> Thanks for the trip report.  I've wondered about staying at this resort for the year I can't get a camping reservation in the Valley, 5 months out, and all the sites are gone in a millisecond over the internet reservation system.


The 45 miles is from the WM resort to the Valley floor, not 45 minutes.   It takes longer because you have to drive slower on mountain roads.  The entrance to the park is doable in about 30 minutes, but the Valley is another 35 miles from the entrance.  

I thought the WM location was excellent for visiting Yosemite.  The only thing missing for me was that I would have liked to see the park in the dark, but didn't want to deal with the drive back to the resort after dark.  Because of that, I'd consider a one night stay inside the park in the future.


----------



## Passepartout (Jun 3, 2014)

We had a deeeelightful stay at WM Bass Lake, a year ago last October. We had signed up for a watercolor painting 'class' with Elderhostel (or Road Scholar) and stayed there. It was a bit of a commute, but do-able. For those wanting to see Giant Redwoods, we found these: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelder_Grove relatively close by, uncrowded and accessible. We had virtually the whole grove to ourselves.

If you are at WM Bass lake, put Nelder Grove on your list.

Jim


----------



## Stressy (Jun 3, 2014)

Presley,

Did you go out on the lake? It's a little early yet as the water level is controlled by PGE-but yes, we've had a drought this year. How low is low? I've stayed away in the past couple of years due to the dam retrofit and water level but this was supposed to be the year!! I've got a house rental for end of June, early July with a dock. Gah, it better be floating. 

Agree about the gorgeous. I've been visiting since my grown kids were "littles" and it's one of the reasons I purchased WM. We have stayed at the WM and it's quite nice. The townhouse style makes you feel like you are home. This year we went back to a house because we really like having our boat available and floating 24/7. 

Can't wait for our trip!


----------



## presley (Jun 4, 2014)

Stressy said:


> Presley,
> 
> Did you go out on the lake? It's a little early yet as the water level is controlled by PGE-but yes, we've had a drought this year. How low is low? I've stayed away in the past couple of years due to the dam retrofit and water level but this was supposed to be the year!! I've got a house rental for end of June, early July with a dock. Gah, it better be floating.



I didn't go on the lake, but my husband took a fishing charter.  The lake is low enough that the Forks can't do any of their boating activities this year.  The end of their dock is on land.  The WM side of the lake is the low side.  So, if you are staying in a different part, you should be fine.

We were told the lake is always low at this time of year, but that is quite a bit lower than normal right now.  The check in person at the WM said it used to be a 10 minute walk to the lake from the property, but now it would be at least double that.  It wasn't quite as far as he suggested, but I did see many docks on dry land on that side of the lake.


----------



## Stressy (Jun 6, 2014)

presley said:


> I didn't go on the lake, but my husband took a fishing charter.  The lake is low enough that the Forks can't do any of their boating activities this year.  The end of their dock is on land.  The WM side of the lake is the low side.  So, if you are staying in a different part, you should be fine.
> 
> We were told the lake is always low at this time of year, but that is quite a bit lower than normal right now.  The check in person at the WM said it used to be a 10 minute walk to the lake from the property, but now it would be at least double that.  It wasn't quite as far as he suggested, but I did see many docks on dry land on that side of the lake.



Thanks for the update. The home is south of WM and the Pines Resort in Willow cove.  I've just sent a note to the rental agency to ask if the dock is floating. I was looking forward to getting to getting a Forks Burger by boat...sounds like that might not be happening.


----------



## Stressy (Jul 6, 2014)

Back today from Bass Lake....WOW! The lake is sooooo low. Drought is real. We were fortunate to have a floating dock/slip. Others simply beached their boats near their docks.

We visited Yosemite. Agree that it's a short drive from Bass Lake to the entrance but much longer to the Valley floor. It was VERY warm. Water is essential. We drove ourselves but many might benefit from the open air buses/shuttle tours.

Everything is soooo dry right now. Again, drought. Hardly any falls, etc. If you intend to visit this summer, please be mindful of the physical capabilities of your group and the need to hydrate.

Wanted to add that we spent 4th of July at Bass Lake. It's such a great way to view fireworks, shot from a barge, over the lake. The echo is unbelievable. Not that it's loud...it's just sort of indescribable.....and makes you well aware of where you are. It's always one of our top vacations choices. 5 times running...now.


----------

