Pine Mountain Lake Association

We rented a house in the country club for my father’s birthday in August because of its proximity to Yosemite. This lake is on the smaller side, but fun none the less. It is very family friendly with the water trampolines and launch pad which were fun for all of us! We rented a sailboat, motor boat, and a kayak, I would definitely suggest the sailboat, it was our favorite part. We really enjoyed walking around the airplane landing strip and looking at all the houses built on the taxi way and the large hangers instead of garages to house their private planes, very nice residents also who didn’t mind showing us the planes they were currently building. We are already planning next years trip back!

The new website has an updated contractor list for preferred PML vendors, well done! They are also doing more outreach through facebook for new community announcements. They are moving forward to 5 stars in 2015.

Edited to one star… some of the people up there need to pull their head out of their ass and see the place for what it is.
A good place for a few days but if you’re the adventure type and think golf is lame you’ll get bored really quick. We came here and had a good time on the beach, great place to take small kids. The area is nice but nothing special. Cabins are cheap so that’s a definite plus.

I spent many days as child here fishing off my mothers friend’s dock. I have fond memories of spending 4^th of July on the lake watching fireworks, trying to spot the white doe that roams with her family, eating some of the BEST PIZZA in California. Pine Mountain Lake is probably one of the best family friendly places to spend time in if you’re looking for a moderate wilderness setting. Its not too remote and close enough to the important amenities so it serves well as both a vacation destination and permanent residence.
Things I love about Pine Mountain Lake:
Private airport
shooting range
fishing for bass and trout in the lake
Golfing at the club
Riding horses
Playing Tennis
Hiking the nearby trails
exploring mid 19^th century buildings
…I could go on and on.
Coming from Modesto Im still very shocked, yet slightly relieved that there are still many people around here who have no idea where this is or that it even exists. ;-)

We’ve owned a house in PML for over 20 years — got invited by friends for a holiday weekend and starting looking at houses right away. Great lake, golf course, tennis courts, and other amenities. Only 2.5 hours from the Bay Area. Half an hour to the north gate of Yosemite. Lots of rentals available for vacationers. Elevation is 3000 feet, so its below the snow line most of the time in winter — especially great for winter golf! Summer holiday weekends are really crowded, so maybe avoid those. And some cell carriers have no coverage up there — like T-​Mobile. Otherwise, it’s all good — boating, fishing, golfing, riding, hiking, swimming, etc., etc. Can’t beat it.

If all you’re doing is using Pine Mountain Lake as a base for exploring Yosemite and Stanislaus National Forest, you’re in good shape. The prices are low and via VRBO you can generally find a nice little cabin for $ 125 a night or less that sleeps at least 4 and allows you to store and prepare food at home, saving more money. It’s also convenient, with a full supermarket right next to the property, a couple of very casual restaurants with pretty nice food. It’s well-​located if you want to explore both the Yosemite Valley area and the less-​visited Hetch Hetchy Valley.
We also found a cabin with a nice view… sitting on the deck, it felt very rustic, with pine trees around us and off in the distance. Wonderful woodsy scent.
As a place for recreation, however, PML leaves a lot to be desired. Walking on the streets isn’t much fun; most of them look largely suburban with maybe more space and trees than most, but not really rustic. The association rules also make it hard to enjoy the property. There are a couple of specific places you can swim; they’re roped off and the size of a large-​ish swimming pool. and on weekends in summer, they’re crowded. The crowds kick up all the silt in that little area, and my daughter, who happily swims in teh ocean and clorinated pools, found that the silt stung her eyes so badly, she didn’t want to go in. You can also only fish in a couple of areas. And the way they work fishing rentals, you basically have to pay for two days to get to fish at the time anything will be biting.
The horseback rides weren’t very good; the trail leader somehow felt it was his responsibility to treat everyone to a tirade on his Tea Party politics. The rides at Yosemite are way, way better and more beautiful, and actually slightly cheaper per hour. You have to bring your own archery equipment to use the archery range! Renting a kayak was very fun, though. And if you like sighting deer, you’ll be in heaven.
PML is at an elevation that is particularly hot in summer, up close to 100 on many days. It might be nice for families with young children who don’t mind the limited swimming areas of the lake. I’d suggest avoiding weekends. They won’t even let renters park by the marina, the biggest swim area and where you can rent boats. You have to park out on the street, up to a half mile away, lugging your stuff in the 95-​degree heat. There’s a swimming pool, but the hours for renters are limited there, too.
It’s supposed to be a rustic, activity driven retreat that has managed to take the rustic and the activity out of the whole experience.

Don’t come here in the winter. They bill it as a great, less expensive place to stay that is close to Yosemite. We liked the idea of having a rented cabin to serve as home base for our winter Yosemite vacation. But in the winter you are not allowed to even take a walk, due to liability. Seriously — cannot step foot off of the property you rent. They say people can sue if they slip & fall on the icy snow. We love the Yosemite area in the winter, but made a HUGE mistake staying at Pine Mountain Lake. There are other places nearby that allow you to take winter walks and enjoy your surroundings.

My friends invited me to stay here during July 4^th weekend. It is a private gated community located about 26 miles west of Yosemite and includes a golf course, restaurant, stables, campground, and lake.
The Marina was the highlight for me as you can rent various types of boats (kayaks, rowboats, sailboats, paddle boats, and fishing boats) and cruise around the lake. On the lake you can also water ski and fish for trout, bass, catfish, and bluegill. On July 4^th they also had a fireworks display at night. (
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The staff here are extremely nice as well. We had missed our turn and asked one of the maintenance staff for directions. He pulled out a blueprint map of the community and after spotting our street, he gave us turn by turn directions.
Overall, a fun and relaxing community. They also have a variety of cabins/​homes here for rent from lakeside to hillside that should fit anyone’s budget.

I’ve been going to Pine Mountain Lake every summer for 15 consecutive years. The lake is incredibly beautiful and not as cold as most mountain lakes, plus it’s close to Yosemite so you can wake up and go hiking in the mountains and at the end of the day, swim and relax by the lake. If you’re not going hiking during the day, bring some company or some reading material, or you will get a little restless. There’s some good blackberry picking by Fisherman’s Cove if you’re into that old-​timey adventure sort of thing. And downtown is cute, in kind of a sickeningly Gold Rushy way.
The beaches are kind of crowded and obnoxious, especially during regular holidays, so try to rent a waterfront house. Lots of water skiers during the day as well, during holiday weekends. The patrol boats don’t let you swim farther than 20 feet away from your dock, so you should either resolve to stay very close to your dock or exercise EXTREME STEALTH when swimming. If you’re in a boat you need lifejackets, or the patrol will get you. Yeah so the patrols are a little anal but if you work the system, the lake is amazing. If you do get hounded by patrols, you can always pretend you’re Russian… almost everyone else is, anyway.

I did not even know about the existence of this lake till my Russian friends invited me to stay with them in a cabin by the Pine Mountain Lake. Apparently it is a small gated community by an equally small lake where you can swim, kayak and do some wakeboarding. It is a very pretty area only 26 miles from Yosemite. However, if you do not have a family or a bunch of friends traveling with you, it is going to get very boring after a day or two. If you want to relax with a book and maybe do some easy kayaking — this place is for you. The cabins here are much cheaper than in Tahoe and the lake is actually much warmer. Another benefit — it is only 2.5hrs from the Bay area making this place a nice getaway for a weekend.