Bass Lake or Exchequer bike park

I've never ridden Bass lake, but Exchequer is a ton of fun and I highly recommend it. However it is basically 4 really fun runs down the hill. I enjoy doing them over and over. I'ts a lot like a day at a ski area, except you have to bike back up. Bass Lake looks like you could do some more long-distance loops.

Bass Lake.
give Mike @ Pedal Forward a call before you go and/or stop in. Great little shop in Oakhurst. They can point you in the right direction. quite a bit to explore up there, but you have to like to climb.

I was at Bass Lake with my family for the first time this summer. I only did one ride - the Willow Creek Trail, but it was pretty awesome. It looked like there was lots of good stuff higher - granite.

Dopaminer_09 said:

there was lots of good stuff higher - granite.

Click to expand...

Anything high up will be under snow I would imagine.

Dopaminer_09 said:

I was at Bass Lake with my family for the first time this summer. I only did one ride - the Willow Creek Trail, but it was pretty awesome. It looked like there was lots of good stuff higher - granite.

Click to expand...

How technical and easy is it to get around?

I climbed a paved road to a fire road that led to the Willow Creek trail and then rode down from there. I was on a hardtail trail bike. It isn’t super technical. But there are some fun rocky parts that can be challenging. Everything is walkable. The trail runs down along a creek which is very scenic with some great watering holes in the summer. I wonder if there is snow there now. At the bottom you reach the road and then there is another segment of trail that runs from the road to the lake. I didn’t ride that, but hiked it the day before and remember thinking it would be nuts to ride down some of the sections of that segment.

LittleCarrot said:

How technical and easy is it to get around?

Click to expand...

Only time exchequer is better than Bass Lake is when Bass lake is under 2’ of snow which it was for much of December and early January. Most of it has melted now. All the higher stuff is buried but Willow Creek is rideable now as well as the 2 bottom sections of 007. Hit me up if you are looking for routes or trails to link up.

Duffman1976 said:

Only time exchequer is better than Bass Lake is when Bass lake is under 2’ of snow which it was for much of December and early January. Most of it has melted now. All the higher stuff is buried but Willow Creek is rideable now as well as the 2 bottom sections of 007. Hit me up if you are looking for routes or trails to link up.

Click to expand...

Interesting. Would there be enough dry/melted out to make a trip from the bay in 2 weeks? Seems like everything below 6k ft might be okay by then?

We got pretty pounded with snow in December just like up north did. Most of it fell above 5k feet. Will be quite some time before that melts. There is even patchy snow at lake level still and that is only 3300’. Trails that are rideable now are the bottom 2 sections of 007 and willow creek. These are more south facing. Goat mountain and spring cove face north and will need another week. These trails all top out around 4500’.

Trails above those: MJ, octopussy, 3rd section of 007 and blind squirrel won’t be rideable until March I’d guess. But January has been crazy dry compared to last month although it has been cold so the snow is hanging on. Trails up higher like skyfall, lumberjack and LoJack will be more like end of April.

Duffman1976 said:

We got pretty pounded with snow in December just like up north did. Most of it fell above 5k feet. Will be quite some time before that melts. There is even patchy snow at lake level still and that is only 3300’. Trails that are rideable now are the bottom 2 sections of 007 and willow creek. These are more south facing. Goat mountain and spring cove face north and will need another week. These trails all top out around 4500’.

Trails above those: MJ, octopussy, 3rd section of 007 and blind squirrel won’t be rideable until March I’d guess. But January has been crazy dry compared to last month although it has been cold so the snow is hanging on. Trails up higher like skyfall, lumberjack and LoJack will be more like end of April.

Click to expand...

Ah okay thanks. I was hoping the warm temps and dry January would mean it’s better than they are it sounds like. I’ll probably wait until the spring. Plenty of hero dirt by the coast now!

Both places are fun. I'd pick Exchequer as a destination ride and stay a few days when the flowers start to bloom, do a few laps, hang out in the campground and enjoy the weather. The trails at Exchequer versus Bass Lake don't really compare. Bass lake has some chunk, slabs, rocks and vert. Exchequer has that too, just more in a controlled environment, swoopy and flowy.

I laugh.. Last time I was at Exchequer, the local scene was funny. Everyone knows everyone, and when fresh-fish shows up to ride like we did, they all know you're there. Lot's of chill, relaxed folks that freaking rip, and are just on the gas riding those trails. Also, some not-so-chill folk, that make it known that they take their trail advocating very seriously!

Bass Lake has some pretty rad trails. Mary Jane to Willow Creek is cool. 007 is cool. Shuteye Peak is cool. Goat Mtn and Spring Cove are both fun rides but much less technical. .

Joe_510 said:

Bass Lake has some pretty rad trails. Mary Jane to Willow Creek is cool. 007 is cool. Shuteye Peak is cool. Goat Mtn and Spring Cove are both fun rides but much less technical. .

Click to expand...

There are also a couple fun trails above Mary Jane.

Never been to Exchequer, but rode Bass Lake for the first time back in December. Loved it and been dreaming about going back ever since. I rode Maryjane and Willow Creek. The was quite a bit of snow riding up, and Maryjane was snowed in at the top (which made navigating a challenge). And this was before the big snow hit, so I doubt it's ridable right now.

Not super challenging, but definitely enough chunk to keep it interesting. And the big granite slabs were super fun with some nice views. Looking forward to riding it again and exploring the other trails out there.

The big log across willow creek that we used to connect mary jane and willow was recently washed away. Going to have to come up with a new solution for that one...