Crooked Lake Fishing
Nevada County

Crooked Lake is tucked in among the rocks away from the main trail in the Grouse Ridge area north of Interstate 80 in northern California. While many of Crooked Lake's neighbors are shallow ponds, Crooked Lake is large enough and deep enough to support good size rainbow and brook trout.

Even though Grouse Ridge is a popular destination for people enjoying the outdoors, most don't wander off trail. The trek to Crooked Lake involves a little cross-country travel, but nothing difficult. You will most likely have the lake to yourself.

Crooked Lake

Sidetrips

The entire Grouse Ridge area is sprinkled with lakes. Once you enter the region you can fish your way from lake to lake for days without repeating yourself. Other destinations listed in this guide that could easily be reached from Crooked Lake are shown below.

Staying on the right route while moving from lake to lake can be tricky in the Grouse Ridge area, especially if you strike out cross country. Carry good maps and a compass or a reliable GPS.

Nearby Featured Trips in Nevada County:

Fordyce Creek - approached from Eagle Lakes or Lake Spaulding
Glacier Lake - fish for golden trout in the Grouse Ridge area
Lower Lola Montez Lake - easy hike from I80 near Donner summit
Milk Lake - excellent fly fishing only a mile from the parking lot
Penner Lake - one of the best fishing lakes in Grouse Ridge
Round Lake - a quiet little lake you will probably have to yourself

Island Lake

In My Creel

1/6 oz. Thomas Buoyant
Super Duper
Yakima Rooster Tail
salmon eggs
Berkley Power Bait
Mike's Glitter Mallows

I tried a variety of lures and baits while fishing at Crooked Lake.

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Recommended Books and Lures for Fishing Grouse Ridge

Top Trails: Sacramento: Must-do Hikes for Everyone, Steve Evans. Covers hikes from California's Sacramento Valley to the Sierra, including a section on Grouse Ridge.
High Sierra Fishing, Basics to Advanced Tactics, Billy Van Loek. This is the book I go back to again and again to improve my fishing technique in the high Sierra.
Fly Fishing Trout Flies | Essential Flies for Trout | Hand-Tied Dry Flies, Nymphs, Streamers 32 of the most proven Trout flies, well-known for their timeless fish-catching effectiveness.
California's Best Fly Fishing: Premier Streams and Rivers from Northern California to the Eastern Sierra, Chip O'Brien. An up-to-date guidebook, complete with maps, detailed descriptions of fishing locations, analysis of the seasonal differences which affect fishing, and fly patterns.

Crooked Lake

Sierra Fishing Destinations

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Getting to Crooked Lake

To get to Crooked Lake from Highway 80 west of Donner Summit, take the Highway 20 exit and follow it west 4 miles until you come to the Bowman Lake turnoff. Follow this paved road 8.2 miles to the turnoff to Carr Lake. Travel on a slow, bumpy dirt road for 3 miles to trailhead parking at Carr Lake. 4-wheel drive is not necessary unless patches of spring snow are still on the road. (34 minutes travel time from Hwy 20 to Carr Lake.)

The hike to Crooked Lake is 2.5 miles. During the hike you will climb about 200 feet and lose about 200 feet. Begin at the Carr Lake trailhead and hike 1 mile past Feeley Lake to the trail junction near Island Lake. Turn left there and hike 1 mile, past Island Lake and past a small pond. Then turn right off the trail and head for Crooked Lake.

Using a USGS map you can easily identify your destination. It is the largest of the cluster of lakes called Crooked Lakes. Hike cross country downhill about a third of a mile to the lake. There are no maintained trails to Crooked Lake, but use-trails can be picked up and followed. The map shows many other little lakes in the vicinity but all the ones I explored were shallow and filled with water plants. Not so good for fishing. Maybe for frogs.

Set Out on Adventure

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Evolution Valley, Kings Canyon National Park

A Backpacker's Guide
to California's Most Spectacular
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Accommodations and Supplies

Crooked Lake is on the eastern side, on a bench overlooking the lake. You might also consider camping at Island Lake since it is so close. There are nice sites all around the lake.

California's Best Camping

For complete information about campgrounds all around Donner Summit, see

A good selection of fishing supplies, camping gear, and food can be purchased in Nyack, only a few miles west on Interstate 80 from the Highway 20 junction. The store is open 24 hours a day. A gas station and Burger King are located there also. If you are coming up Highway 49/20, stop in Grass Valley at Reel Anglers Fly Shop at 760 South Auburn St.