Devils Slide is a granite sliding cascade on North Fork Willow Creek above Bass Lake in Madera County, California, with a cumulative drop of about 90 feet through a run of potholes.
The falls
The creek slides down bare granite for about 250 feet, cut with potholes along the way, above Bass Lake. Older measurements put the total closer to 50 feet; the current figure of about 90 feet accounts for the full cumulative descent. Flow is lower in summer, while spring and early-summer runoff is stronger and more hazardous.
Getting there
The Willow Creek Trail, a Sierra National Forest route, reaches Devils Slide and neighboring Angel Falls. A 2025 area visitor guide gives the combined Angel Falls/Devils Slide hike as 3.1 miles round trip, rated moderate to strenuous; starting from Falls Beach adds 0.2 mile. Current road and trail access, parking fees, hours, and any permit requirements for 2026 are not documented.
On site
The Forest Service warns that the creek's rocks are extremely slippery and advises hikers to stay off them. Fences block some views of the cascades. On September 4, 2022, a hiker lost near the top of Devils Slide on Willow Creek was located and walked back to her car.
Nearby
Angel Falls is about 0.7 mile away on the same creek, and Bass Lake Falls about 1.1 miles. Corlieu Falls, on the Lewis Fork, is about 5.7 miles away.
Distances are straight-line.
Sources
- worldwaterfalldatabase.com
- world-of-waterfalls.com
- fs.usda.gov
- yosemitethisyear.com
- sierranewsonline.com