Pine Mountain Lake (PML) is a private gated community and a census-designated place (CDP) in Groveland, located in Tuolumne County, California, United States. It is located north and east of downtown Groveland. Pine Mountain Lake sits at an elevation of . The 2020 United States census reported Pine Mountain Lake's population was 2,636.

The ZIP Code is 95321. The community is served by area code 209.

The "Gateway to Yosemite", PML is an all-seasons vacation and retirement community. PML includes a private lake with of shoreline. The community also hosts an 18-hole championship golf course, golf shop, lake lodge, tennis, hiking, horseback riding, swimming, fishing, an airport, and close proximity to local shopping, medical, and government services. PML is west of Yosemite National Park on State Highway 120. It gets a light dusting of snow in the winter, and has warm summer days, a green spring, and colorful fall.

About The community of Big Oak Flat was founded by James D. Savage, who began mining the area about 1851. In "Discovery of the Yosemite and the Indian War of 1851 which led to that event" by Lafayette Bunnell, Savage is credited as the leader of the first group of non-Native Americans of European ancestry into Yosemite Valley, on March 27, 1851. Others of European ancestry may have seen the valley as early as 1833. From approximately 1916 to 1924, Big Oak Flat served as a staging area and housing location for workers constructing the Hetch Hetchy Railroad, which was required to build the O'Shaughnessy Dam on the Tuolumne River in the Hetch Hetchy Valley. Big Oak Flat is now registered as California Historical Landmark #406.

The lake is spring-fed and is also fed by Big Creek. It has of water and of shoreline. It affords water skiing, sailing, swimming and fishing. It has three sandy swim beaches, a boat launch marina and a fisherman's park. Pine Mountain Lake Association stocks the lake with trout. The lake is surrounded by pines and manzanitas, and most homes cannot be seen from the lake, preserving its wilderness feeling.

The Pine Mountain Lake subdivision was developed by Boise Cascade in the late 1960s with about 3,600 homesites averaging about one third to one half of an acre each. PML offers an equestrian center, tennis, a PGA rated golf course with a full-time golf pro, a "country club," and full-time mobile security patrol. The lake is about feet above mean sea level. The highest points in the community are about AMSL. Altitudes range from about 2,600 to . Temperatures range from the 20–30 °F in winter to 80–90 °F in the summer.

Groveland has Tenaya Elementary School (grades K–8) and Tioga High School (grades 9–12), part of the Big Oak Flat-Groveland Unified School District.Big Oak Flat Groveland Unified School district Columbia College (California) is about down the hill in Columbia, from Sonora (about from Groveland).

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers an area of 19.2 square miles (49.8 km2), of which 19.0 square miles (49.1 km2) is land and 0.3 square mile (0.7 km2) is (1.46%) water.

Demographics

Pine Mountain Lake first appeared as a census-designated place in the 2010 United States census formed from part of the deleted Groveland-Big Oak Flat CDP and additional area.

Racial and ethnic composition +Pine Mountain Lake CDP, California – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 2010Pop 2020% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)2,4752,18188.52%82.74%Black or African American alone (NH)10100.36%0.38%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)20160.72%0.61%Asian alone (NH)23330.82%1.25%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)760.25%0.23%Other race alone (NH)1230.04%0.87%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)771502.75%5.69%Hispanic or Latino (any race)1832176.55%8.23%Total2,7962,636 100.00%100.00%

2020 census As of the 2020 census, Pine Mountain Lake had a population of 2,636, with a population density of .

The median age was 63.2 years. The age distribution was 9.7% under the age of 18, 3.8% aged 18 to 24, 14.5% aged 25 to 44, 25.3% aged 45 to 64, and 46.8% aged 65 or older. For every 100 females there were 106.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 104.9 males age 18 and over.

+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 2,236 84.8% Black or African American 11 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native 23 0.9% Asian 37 1.4% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 6 0.2% Some other race 73 2.8% Two or more races 250 9.5%

The census reported that 99.7% of the population lived in households, 0.3% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and no one was institutionalized. There were 1,292 households, of which 13.4% included children under the age of 18, 51.7% were married-couple households, 6.1% were cohabiting couple households, 21.7% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present, and 20.5% had a male householder with no spouse or partner present. About 31.7% of households were one person, and 18.7% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.03, and there were 805 families (62.3% of all households).

There were 3,055 housing units at an average density of . Of all housing units, 42.3% were occupied and 57.7% were vacant; among occupied units, 83.2% were owner-occupied and 16.8% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.9% and the rental vacancy rate was 5.5%.

0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.

Pine Mountain Lake, as well as the greater Groveland area, sits within Census Block 06109004200, which includes large portions of both southern Tuolumne County, as well as northern portions of Mariposa County.

2010 census Pine Mountain Lake first appeared as a census-designated place in the 2010 United States census formed from part of the deleted Groveland-Big Oak Flat CDP and additional area.

Government In the California State Legislature, Pine Mountain Lake is in , and .

In the United States House of Representatives, Pine Mountain Lake is in .

Airport The Groveland/Yosemite Airport is five miles (8 km) from the intersection of Ferretti Road and California State Route 120. The facility has an FAA identifier of E45 and features a single runway roughly long.

See also Groveland-Big Oak Flat, California Buck Meadows, California

Sources Map: "Stanislaus National Forest, California," U.S. Forest Service, 1979. Map: "Groveland, California," U.S. Geological Survey, 1987. Airport Facility Directory: Southwest U.S., U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, unknown date.

References

External links Pine Mountain Lake Association home page Pine Mountain Lake Aviation Association Friends of the Lake US Census Bureau Block Data for Pine Mountain Lake CBD