Saddlebag Lake & 20 Lakes Basin
Saddlebag Lake Road, off Tioga Pass Road (Hwy 120) · near Lee Vining · Eastern Sierra
Fishing
At a glance
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Best season
- Access ~June–October (Tioga Road closes with snow)
Permits and booking
- Licence required
- Yes
- Licence detail
- CA license (16+). Open year-round (5-trout limit) as a Tioga Road water, but access is gated by seasonal Tioga Pass closure. Confirm current CDFW rules.
What is here
- Features
- Highest drive-to lake in California (~10,000 ft) · Gateway to the 20 Lakes Basin golden-trout circuit · Resort water-taxi across the lake (verify operating) · Stocked lake + wild alpine basin
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- No
Fishing detail
- Water type
- high-sierra
- Water
- fresh
- Methods
- Trolling · Spin · Bait · Fly
- Boat
- boat
- Target species
- Rainbow & brook trout (lake) · Wild golden trout (20 Lakes Basin) · Brook trout (basin)
- Nickname
- The Highest Drive-To Lake
- Intl tip
- The highest drive-to lake in California. Fish the lake, or take the resort water taxi across and hike the 20 Lakes Basin for wild golden trout. Short season (~June–Oct) — Tioga Pass closes with snow. Bring layers; verify the resort is running.
The guide
Saddlebag Lake sits at just over 10,000 feet — the highest lake you can drive to in California — a windswept alpine reservoir j…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Saddlebag Lake & 20 Lakes Basin — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 37.9736, -119.275