Guidebook for Sierra City

Parks & Nature

Sierra Buttes Fire Lookout

Great views once you pass all the steps! The hike from the Trailhead at Packer Saddle is about 2 hours up. Stop at the 4-wheel drive parking lot and walk just off the trail to see four lakes in a row: Young America, Upper Sardine, Lower Sardine and the Sandpond.

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Sierra Buttes Fire Lookout

Pacific Crest Trail

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Great views once you pass all the steps! The hike from the Trailhead at Packer Saddle is about 2 hours up. Stop at the 4-wheel drive parking lot and walk just off the trail to see four lakes in a row: Young America, Upper Sardine, Lower Sardine and the Sandpond.

Loves Falls

Park about two miles east of town on Highway 49 near old water tanks. Find the short 5-minute walk on the Pacific Crest Trail to get to a great footbridge over the North Fork of the Yuba River. Continue on about 40 minutes if you want a great view down the canyon and the Buttes. You can also walk a loop to Wild Plum campground.

Loves Falls

Park about two miles east of town on Highway 49 near old water tanks. Find the short 5-minute walk on the Pacific Crest Trail to get to a great footbridge over the North Fork of the Yuba River. Continue on about 40 minutes if you want a great view down the canyon and the Buttes. You can also walk a loop to Wild Plum campground.

Sierra Buttes

Walk to or park at the dump. Then walk up the dirt road. A mile up there will be a nice waterfall. Keep going and stay to the left to walk to Columbo Mine or bear right after the waterfall to go steep up the mountain. Another mile up look for the overlook to see stunning views of the canyon.

Sierra Buttes

Walk to or park at the dump. Then walk up the dirt road. A mile up there will be a nice waterfall. Keep going and stay to the left to walk to Columbo Mine or bear right after the waterfall to go steep up the mountain. Another mile up look for the overlook to see stunning views of the canyon.

Yuba River swimming hole

Nice swimming hole on the way to Sierra City from Nevada City, but a little far when there are plenty of good (but colder) swimming holes and lakes locally. See our house guide for more information.

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Yuba River swimming hole

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Nice swimming hole on the way to Sierra City from Nevada City, but a little far when there are plenty of good (but colder) swimming holes and lakes locally. See our house guide for more information.

Sierra City

You've come to the right place for hiking, biking, swimming, fishing and other outdoor activities! Remember, cell phones don’t work in some of these areas. Here's a few recommendations. Definitely go to salmon lake, off gold lake highway between Graeagle and Sierra City. Pro tip: park about 300 feet up the hill from the boat ramp and find a path to a little cove where there’s water access and a nice shady tree to set up a couple chairs. You can walk to the other side of the lake on a path to the right of the parking lot. If you want a scenic cocktail, go to Lower Sardine Lake. Sardine Lake has a boathouse that serves drinks starting at 5 p.m. There’s also a popular restaurant there, but you need reservations usually several days in advance. Here’s a few other tips I give renters. If you have time the hike to the lookout is well worth it. Also the short hike to Love’s Falls is nice, and the Lake Basin Loop Trail. The Frazier Falls walk is nice, super easy, just a half mile and paved. Find the right dirt road into Frazier Falls, there’s two roads. One is a half mile and the other one is much longer. You can also drive part way to the Mills Peak Lookout and walk the last mile or so, not a great walk on a four-wheel drive road but a nice ending and view from the lookout. On to the details: You’ve come to the right place for hiking! Here's a few recommendations. Check them all out on a map since I'm just operating on memory. There's maps usually available in the grocery store and also there should be one in the house in a drawer under the bookshelf. Or buy one from REI before visiting! Here’s a website with better info: HIKING Try checking online for good descriptions of these hikes. Also, it’s good to buy a map from REI or borrow (and return) the map in the drawer of the white book cabinet in the house so you have something when you don’t have cell service! https://www.alltrails.com/explore/us/california/blairsden-graeagle--2 https://sierratrails.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Lost-Sierra-Trails-Magazine-v6.pdf You can pick up the map at REI or order by mail for extra fee. https://www.rei.com/product/825757/sierra-national-forest-map http://www.nationalforestmapstore.com/product-p/ca-82.htm Here’s some hikes we recommend. -- SIERRA BUTTES LOOKOUT -- The lookout is a must for hikers. You can drive up to Packer Saddle and walk a nice trail from the trailhead there, takes about 90 minutes or so each way. There is a 4-wheel-drive dirt parking area when you are less than a half mile from the top accessed by a difficult 4-wheel-drive road. (Tip: Just before you walk through this parking area on the way to the old fire station lookout, make sure you veer off the trail to the left and take in the great view of all four lakes lined up below. (Young America, Upper Sardine, Lower Sardine and the Sand Pond). Then continue walking another 20 minutes to the stairs that lead to the lookout structure. -- SIERRA BUTTES LOOKOUT TRAIL VIA LAKES -- Not necessarily a must, but something to do if you have time. This is a longer trail you can take from a trailhead prior to the Sand Pond that passes all these lakes up along a ridge top. It’s a longer hike, and more strenuous. You can look it up on the Forest Service map of the area, which you can buy or there's one you can borrow in one of the dining room drawers at the house. -- FROM THE HOUSE -- Just fun to leave from the house if you don't want to drive to a nearby trailhead. You can hike for as long as you want up the Sierra Buttes from the house to get great views of the canyon and beyond, check out a tumbling creek and get above the tree line. Directions: You can walk or drive up to the dump on a paved road, two miles, then take a fire road to the right at the dump entrance. Go another 2 miles until you pass a small waterfall / creek. About 600 yards past the waterfall you take a switchback to the right and keep going up the mountain as far as you want. (Or you can continue to the old Columbo Mine ruins). If you keep going up the mountain you will eventually connect to the end of a well-traveled dirt road. The four-wheel drive road at this point goes straight up the mountain to that dirt parking area near the top of the mountain that I mentioned in the previous trail. -- PACIFIC CREST TRAIL PAST LOVE'S FALLS -- Highly recommended and easy for the first section. There's a really nice section of the Pacific Crest Trail you can take, which starts on the river side of the highway a couple miles north of town on Highway 49. Just after you see the PCT sign along the highway you can park on a big pull-out on the right. Then take the 5-minute trail to the river to a great footbridge where you can see Love's Falls coming in below and the river coming down the gorge from above. If you want, you can continue up the switchbacks as far as you want. After the switchbacks, there's a nice view of the Yuba River canyon. (There's also an intersecting trail about two miles into hike that you can take down the mountain which intersects with the Wild Plum Road near the river. You can take take Wild Plum back into town, or take a right after the bridge up the first paved road to the right, which turns to dirt before heading back to the highway, if you want to make it a loop hike.) — PACIFIC CREST TRAIL UP SIERRA BUTTES -- Instead of heading down towards Love’s Falls and the river on Highway 49, head across Highway 49 up the Sierra Buttes. Find the PCT trailhead and after two hours of switchbacks you will find yourself above the tree line on a beautiful rocky vista. — WILD PLUM LOOP — Takes 2.5 hours, some sections are difficult. Go to the Wild Plum campground, take the fire road at the very end of the campground for about a mile uphill, look for the Pacific Crest Trail sign to the left past a bridge, take the PCT and follow it back to the campground. It will come out right before the campground bridge. -- LAKE BASIN LOOP TRAIL -- This is a beautiful hike. My wife Michelle did this one a couple years ago with her girlfriends. Look this one up on the map. They really liked it. Well marked, can be long or short or in between, 2 miles to 15 miles or more, catch trail by Gold Lake, and it goes past Little Bear Lake and several other lakes. Here’s a link: http://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/bear-lakes-loop-trail. -- HACKMAN'S RAVINE -- Not necessarily recommended. This one is really poorly marked and more dangerous. We walked into a nest of bees finding this one once. You have to cross the Yuba River in town, then head upstream and up into the woods until you find a trail. Look on a map. The last few hundred yards require scrambling over rocks. The payoff is a waterfall more than a 100-feet high. -- FRAZIER FALLS -- This one is pretty, and very easy. You could check it out if you're in the neighborhood along Gold Lake Highway going to another hike. It is only a half-mile wheelchair access trail, but it has a great view of the falls. Look out for rattlesnakes on any of these hikes. BIKING A nice long road ride, with tons of climbing, is Sierra City to Sierraville to Graeagle and back home over Gold Lake Highway. But the area is well known for mountain biking. If you don’t bring your own, rent from downievilleoutfitters.com or another Yuba Expeditions. They do shuttles for those that want to experience the famous Downieville Downhill trail, but some sections require experience. There are other trails you can ask about at Downieville Outfitters. We like heading out from the house up the Sierra Buttes. -- FROM THE HOUSE -- Just fun to leave from the house if you don't want to drive to a nearby trailhead. You can hike for as long as you want up the Sierra Buttes from the house to get great views of the canyon and beyond, check out a tumbling creek and get above the tree line. Directions: You can walk or drive up to the dump on a paved road, two miles, then take a fire road to the right at the dump entrance. Go another 2 miles until you pass a small waterfall / creek. About 600 yards past the waterfall you take a switchback to the right and keep going up the mountain as far as you want. (Or you can continue to the old Columbo Mine ruins). If you keep going up the mountain you will eventually connect to the end of a well-traveled dirt road. The four-wheel drive road at this point goes straight up the mountain to that dirt parking area near the top of the mountain that I mentioned in the previous trail. LUNCH CREEK — We like this one, but you need a map and better directions than I can give. You park at Chapman Campground and shuttle or ride to Lunch Creek. There is a fork you take to the left and head down for a mile, and then a trailhead on the right. This little single-track had about four creek crossings. A nice ride, but hard to find the trail if you don’t have good instructions and maybe a map. MILLS PEAK — Shuttle to the Mills Peak lookout and take the single track down the mountain towards Graeagle. SWIMMING and FISHING SAND POND / SARDINE LAKE / PACKER LAKE / DEER LAKE — Drive to Bassett’s four miles from Sierra City, then go up Gold Lake Highway until you see the turnoff for these lakes. Sand Pond is small and shallow for kids. Sardine is not for swimming, but good fishing. Deer Lake is supposed to be a little warmer. SALMON LAKE — One of the most scenic of several very beautiful lakes in the area. Swimmable and there are nice islands. YUBA RIVER — Check in at the RV park to ask about access to the river. Usually they have you sign a waiver. There’s a nice pool 100 yards down the hill. The river is cold, but invigorating! Or go down BB Lane to a path on the right. DRINKS AND DINING In the summer, there should be breakfast and lunch at The Red Moose cafe in Sierra City, and dining at The Buckhorn. There’s hamburgers and a small selection of groceries at the store in town. Ron’s bar at Sorrocco’s Saloon is highly recommended. Also the Buckhorn in town. Go to Sardine Lake at 5 p.m. on most nights for cocktails in the boathouse. Very scenic and fund. There’s the restaurant at Sardine Lake, but it requires reservations usually a few weeks in advance. There’s also the Graeagle Lodge and other options in Downieville and Graeagle. There’s a brewery in Blairsden as well. NEARBY TOWNS DOWNIEVILLE — About 20 minutes from the house. Fun to spend a day and get ice cream in Downieville. There’s a nice swimming hole there as well. GRAEAGLE and BLAIRSDEN — From the house 25 minutes away over Gold Lake Highway. Six golf courses and several dining options, plus a brewery. SIERRAVILLE — About 35 minutes from the house. Great Mexican Restaurant. There’s also hot springs, if you want to make the drive. Truckee is over an hour, Reno is 90 minutes away in one direction and Nevada City / Grass Valley is a little less in the other direction.

Sierra City

You've come to the right place for hiking, biking, swimming, fishing and other outdoor activities! Remember, cell phones don’t work in some of these areas. Here's a few recommendations. Definitely go to salmon lake, off gold lake highway between Graeagle and Sierra City. Pro tip: park about 300 feet up the hill from the boat ramp and find a path to a little cove where there’s water access and a nice shady tree to set up a couple chairs. You can walk to the other side of the lake on a path to the right of the parking lot. If you want a scenic cocktail, go to Lower Sardine Lake. Sardine Lake has a boathouse that serves drinks starting at 5 p.m. There’s also a popular restaurant there, but you need reservations usually several days in advance. Here’s a few other tips I give renters. If you have time the hike to the lookout is well worth it. Also the short hike to Love’s Falls is nice, and the Lake Basin Loop Trail. The Frazier Falls walk is nice, super easy, just a half mile and paved. Find the right dirt road into Frazier Falls, there’s two roads. One is a half mile and the other one is much longer. You can also drive part way to the Mills Peak Lookout and walk the last mile or so, not a great walk on a four-wheel drive road but a nice ending and view from the lookout. On to the details: You’ve come to the right place for hiking! Here's a few recommendations. Check them all out on a map since I'm just operating on memory. There's maps usually available in the grocery store and also there should be one in the house in a drawer under the bookshelf. Or buy one from REI before visiting! Here’s a website with better info: HIKING Try checking online for good descriptions of these hikes. Also, it’s good to buy a map from REI or borrow (and return) the map in the drawer of the white book cabinet in the house so you have something when you don’t have cell service! https://www.alltrails.com/explore/us/california/blairsden-graeagle--2 https://sierratrails.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Lost-Sierra-Trails-Magazine-v6.pdf You can pick up the map at REI or order by mail for extra fee. https://www.rei.com/product/825757/sierra-national-forest-map http://www.nationalforestmapstore.com/product-p/ca-82.htm Here’s some hikes we recommend. -- SIERRA BUTTES LOOKOUT -- The lookout is a must for hikers. You can drive up to Packer Saddle and walk a nice trail from the trailhead there, takes about 90 minutes or so each way. There is a 4-wheel-drive dirt parking area when you are less than a half mile from the top accessed by a difficult 4-wheel-drive road. (Tip: Just before you walk through this parking area on the way to the old fire station lookout, make sure you veer off the trail to the left and take in the great view of all four lakes lined up below. (Young America, Upper Sardine, Lower Sardine and the Sand Pond). Then continue walking another 20 minutes to the stairs that lead to the lookout structure. -- SIERRA BUTTES LOOKOUT TRAIL VIA LAKES -- Not necessarily a must, but something to do if you have time. This is a longer trail you can take from a trailhead prior to the Sand Pond that passes all these lakes up along a ridge top. It’s a longer hike, and more strenuous. You can look it up on the Forest Service map of the area, which you can buy or there's one you can borrow in one of the dining room drawers at the house. -- FROM THE HOUSE -- Just fun to leave from the house if you don't want to drive to a nearby trailhead. You can hike for as long as you want up the Sierra Buttes from the house to get great views of the canyon and beyond, check out a tumbling creek and get above the tree line. Directions: You can walk or drive up to the dump on a paved road, two miles, then take a fire road to the right at the dump entrance. Go another 2 miles until you pass a small waterfall / creek. About 600 yards past the waterfall you take a switchback to the right and keep going up the mountain as far as you want. (Or you can continue to the old Columbo Mine ruins). If you keep going up the mountain you will eventually connect to the end of a well-traveled dirt road. The four-wheel drive road at this point goes straight up the mountain to that dirt parking area near the top of the mountain that I mentioned in the previous trail. -- PACIFIC CREST TRAIL PAST LOVE'S FALLS -- Highly recommended and easy for the first section. There's a really nice section of the Pacific Crest Trail you can take, which starts on the river side of the highway a couple miles north of town on Highway 49. Just after you see the PCT sign along the highway you can park on a big pull-out on the right. Then take the 5-minute trail to the river to a great footbridge where you can see Love's Falls coming in below and the river coming down the gorge from above. If you want, you can continue up the switchbacks as far as you want. After the switchbacks, there's a nice view of the Yuba River canyon. (There's also an intersecting trail about two miles into hike that you can take down the mountain which intersects with the Wild Plum Road near the river. You can take take Wild Plum back into town, or take a right after the bridge up the first paved road to the right, which turns to dirt before heading back to the highway, if you want to make it a loop hike.) — PACIFIC CREST TRAIL UP SIERRA BUTTES -- Instead of heading down towards Love’s Falls and the river on Highway 49, head across Highway 49 up the Sierra Buttes. Find the PCT trailhead and after two hours of switchbacks you will find yourself above the tree line on a beautiful rocky vista. — WILD PLUM LOOP — Takes 2.5 hours, some sections are difficult. Go to the Wild Plum campground, take the fire road at the very end of the campground for about a mile uphill, look for the Pacific Crest Trail sign to the left past a bridge, take the PCT and follow it back to the campground. It will come out right before the campground bridge. -- LAKE BASIN LOOP TRAIL -- This is a beautiful hike. My wife Michelle did this one a couple years ago with her girlfriends. Look this one up on the map. They really liked it. Well marked, can be long or short or in between, 2 miles to 15 miles or more, catch trail by Gold Lake, and it goes past Little Bear Lake and several other lakes. Here’s a link: http://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/bear-lakes-loop-trail. -- HACKMAN'S RAVINE -- Not necessarily recommended. This one is really poorly marked and more dangerous. We walked into a nest of bees finding this one once. You have to cross the Yuba River in town, then head upstream and up into the woods until you find a trail. Look on a map. The last few hundred yards require scrambling over rocks. The payoff is a waterfall more than a 100-feet high. -- FRAZIER FALLS -- This one is pretty, and very easy. You could check it out if you're in the neighborhood along Gold Lake Highway going to another hike. It is only a half-mile wheelchair access trail, but it has a great view of the falls. Look out for rattlesnakes on any of these hikes. BIKING A nice long road ride, with tons of climbing, is Sierra City to Sierraville to Graeagle and back home over Gold Lake Highway. But the area is well known for mountain biking. If you don’t bring your own, rent from downievilleoutfitters.com or another Yuba Expeditions. They do shuttles for those that want to experience the famous Downieville Downhill trail, but some sections require experience. There are other trails you can ask about at Downieville Outfitters. We like heading out from the house up the Sierra Buttes. -- FROM THE HOUSE -- Just fun to leave from the house if you don't want to drive to a nearby trailhead. You can hike for as long as you want up the Sierra Buttes from the house to get great views of the canyon and beyond, check out a tumbling creek and get above the tree line. Directions: You can walk or drive up to the dump on a paved road, two miles, then take a fire road to the right at the dump entrance. Go another 2 miles until you pass a small waterfall / creek. About 600 yards past the waterfall you take a switchback to the right and keep going up the mountain as far as you want. (Or you can continue to the old Columbo Mine ruins). If you keep going up the mountain you will eventually connect to the end of a well-traveled dirt road. The four-wheel drive road at this point goes straight up the mountain to that dirt parking area near the top of the mountain that I mentioned in the previous trail. LUNCH CREEK — We like this one, but you need a map and better directions than I can give. You park at Chapman Campground and shuttle or ride to Lunch Creek. There is a fork you take to the left and head down for a mile, and then a trailhead on the right. This little single-track had about four creek crossings. A nice ride, but hard to find the trail if you don’t have good instructions and maybe a map. MILLS PEAK — Shuttle to the Mills Peak lookout and take the single track down the mountain towards Graeagle. SWIMMING and FISHING SAND POND / SARDINE LAKE / PACKER LAKE / DEER LAKE — Drive to Bassett’s four miles from Sierra City, then go up Gold Lake Highway until you see the turnoff for these lakes. Sand Pond is small and shallow for kids. Sardine is not for swimming, but good fishing. Deer Lake is supposed to be a little warmer. SALMON LAKE — One of the most scenic of several very beautiful lakes in the area. Swimmable and there are nice islands. YUBA RIVER — Check in at the RV park to ask about access to the river. Usually they have you sign a waiver. There’s a nice pool 100 yards down the hill. The river is cold, but invigorating! Or go down BB Lane to a path on the right. DRINKS AND DINING In the summer, there should be breakfast and lunch at The Red Moose cafe in Sierra City, and dining at The Buckhorn. There’s hamburgers and a small selection of groceries at the store in town. Ron’s bar at Sorrocco’s Saloon is highly recommended. Also the Buckhorn in town. Go to Sardine Lake at 5 p.m. on most nights for cocktails in the boathouse. Very scenic and fund. There’s the restaurant at Sardine Lake, but it requires reservations usually a few weeks in advance. There’s also the Graeagle Lodge and other options in Downieville and Graeagle. There’s a brewery in Blairsden as well. NEARBY TOWNS DOWNIEVILLE — About 20 minutes from the house. Fun to spend a day and get ice cream in Downieville. There’s a nice swimming hole there as well. GRAEAGLE and BLAIRSDEN — From the house 25 minutes away over Gold Lake Highway. Six golf courses and several dining options, plus a brewery. SIERRAVILLE — About 35 minutes from the house. Great Mexican Restaurant. There’s also hot springs, if you want to make the drive. Truckee is over an hour, Reno is 90 minutes away in one direction and Nevada City / Grass Valley is a little less in the other direction.

Salmon Lake

Incredibly scenic. Water is warmer than other lakes for swimming and kayaking.

Salmon Lake

Incredibly scenic. Water is warmer than other lakes for swimming and kayaking.

Guidebook for Sierra City

Food Scene

The Buckhorn bar and Mountain Creek restaurant

Red Moose Cafe & Inn

Sardine Lake Resort

Sierra Pines Resort

Drinks & Nightlife

Sorracco's Saloon

Parks & Nature

Sierra Buttes Fire Lookout

Loves Falls

Sierra Buttes

Yuba River swimming hole

Sierra City

Salmon Lake

Essentials

Sierra Country Store