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NORTH YUBA TRAIL
8 reviews
4.63 of 5
Narrow singletrack that winds in and out of forested canyons & passes through old mining camps. This rolling trail features challenging ascents, dicey downhills, creek crossings, treacherous switchbacks,
& stunning views. Not for the faint of heart, do not ride this trail alone!!! One of californias most outrageous singletrack rides.
Hwy 80 to nevada city, take hwy 49 towards downieville.
Make a right at goodyears bar crossing, cross a single lane bridge, make a left at the T , as soon as the road turns to dirt the trail head is on the right.
Summary: Lots of fun but quite a challenge. I thought no sweat a trail that runs parallel with a river. How tough can that be. This trail was extremely up and down, touching down near the river to elevations of nearing 200 feet above river level. Pretty views and nice environs. Seven miles of a constant grind out, another seven back.
Recommended Route: Can't recall name of campsite you turn in to as a staging area for trailhead.
Other recommended trails in the same area: Downieville, South Yuba, Bullards.
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Summary: I rode the No. Yuba/Fiddle Ridge loop again in early October. This time we did it opposite of last time in the previous review.I think this loop is a lot better.No. Yuba Trail makes a really good warmup before the climb up Halls Ranch.The ride down Fiddle Ridge is much more enjoyable than going down Halls Ranch.I crashed and banged my knee hard on the No. Yuba so I didnt know how I would do on the big climb up Halls Ranch.That climb was pretty tough with the bugs swarming our heads and the loose shale that seems to be on all the D'ville trails late in the season.What a challenge though.We walked maybe 1\3 of the climb and rode all out efforts on the rest.I cleaned the top 4 switchbacks and then surprisingly I was at the top of the ridge. It is a very satisfying climb when you make the top of the ridge.It wasn't nearly as bad as I had expected and my knee was OK.It doesn't hurt to be in good shape in D'ville! There are about 13 switchbacks up the hill.The climb seemed to go quicker as we counted them and talked about all the food we had back in camp for our feast that night.At the top we enjoyed awesome views and rolling single track.Before too long we came to the intersection with Fiddle Ridge.Make a left turn here or you will be in a world of hurt,unless you like that sort of thing.Fiddle Ridge rolls along the Ridge for awhile.Theres a spot where the trail widens out alot and there's a lot of Manzanita surrounding the trails.We stopped to eat all our remaining food here.Theres a great view of the river valley and of the Sierra Buttes here.In a while the trail begins to drop then all the sudden there will be a super steep climb.This continues for quite awhile.There was one section where the trail was overgrown.The trail is followable but we had to "ram' our bikes through some of it.Beware of the wild rose bushes!!They have giant thorns that gave me a nice bloody cut.They also have rose hips growing on them.It goes like this for maybe 100 yards so don't think about turning around,just endure it.The trails begins to go more downhill with the odd switchback every once in a while,but still throwing in more nasty climbs.Finally we got to the bottom.Make a left on the road(Cal Ida Rd.)and another left on hwy.49 and 2mi. east to Rocky Rest campground. We were riding in early Oct.It was 70-80 degrees all day.I drank 100 oz. of water and 24 oz. of Gatorade.
Recommended Route: We always camp at Rocky Rest.Start on No. Yuba trail across the bridge.Go 8 mi. east to Goodyears Bar make a left on the pavement,go left on Hwy.49 1 1\2
miles to the trailhead for Halls Ranch .Climb HARD for almost 2 miles to the top.Follow the trail to an intersection with Fiddle Ridge,GO LEFT HERE!!The trail rocks and rolls down to Cal Ida Rd.Make a left and
another left on Hwy. 49 2 miles back to Rocky Rest.
Other recommended trails in the same area: Go explore ! There isn't a bad trail here.
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Review Date August 23, 2003
Overall Rating 5 of 5
Aerobic Difficulty 4 of 5
Technical Difficulty 4 of 5
Ridden Trail: Ridden Once
Reviewed by: eraserhead
,
Cross Country Rider
, from san jose ca
Summary: I usually ride 25-50 miles, up to 10 hrs as much singletrack as possible.This ride was about 20 miles and it almost kicked our butts.The climb up Fiddle Creek was pretty steep and technical with lots of loose shale the entire way.The clouds of mosquitoes flying around our heads made it especially tough(I think they like the C02 we exhale).The climb goes up and seems to top out,you go down then hit more short yet tough climbs.When we finally got to the downhill we took it easy because we were a little tired and didn't know the trail.The switchbacks down to the road were pretty tight but doable.We took 49 then the road at Goodyears Bar to the No.Yuba trailhead.We rode the trail 2 miles then hiked down to the river to swim and eat for awhile.After we got back on the trail it seemed like singletrack heaven,lots of ups and downs,fairly technical no sustained climbing.We got to a spot thats really exposed,rocky and way above the river and I almost had a mental breakdown!I was sure I would crash and fall down to the river so I walked a bit.The last mile and a half is superb.There's a bridge over a shaded creek where we stopped and soaked our heads.We got back to camp,hammered down 4 well deserved beers and went for a swim.This is a killer loop.
Recommended Route: Camped at Rocky Rest,rode down the road to Fiddle Creek(nice,tough climb),back on the road to Goodyear Bar then North Yuba back to Rocky rest campground.
Other recommended trails in the same area: We rode up and down the Downieville River trail one day and did the Chimney Rock and Empire trails the second day,did the Fiddle Creek and No. Yuba trails the last day of our trip.I will be 4 wheeling
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Review Date May 20, 2003
Overall Rating 4 of 5
Ridden Trail: Ridden Once
Reviewed by: Rick
, from Folsom
Summary: Toughest 20 miles ever. 17 miles of single track, 3 miles on hwy 49. North Yuba trail is awesome. Not tecnical, but a killer warm-up with short, steep climbs. The scenory is great. The real climbing is up Halls Ranch trail. 1600 ft in 1.5 miles. The sick thing about this climb is that it is almost perfectly constant and just at the edge of my ability to climb, so it was really kicking my ass. You really need to desire a crazy climbing challenge to do this 1.5 mile stretch. I didn't know how steep this was going to be until I looked at the map at the bottom of the hill. Ugh!! Fiddle creek ridge trail is ok, again, nothing to technical. We were out for 6 hours and only rested for a total of maybe 30 minutes. Seems crazy that 20 miles could take that long, but it did.... I would have given this trail 5 stars, but the trail wasn't really "maintained". I suppose later in the year they will send someone out to Fiddle Creek Ridge trail to clean it up??
Recommended Route: We linked this together with Fiddle Creek Ridge Trail. Of course, it is best just to get a map, but I could actually discribe the route. Start at Rocky Rest campground off of hwy 49 about 10 miles west of Downieville. Follow the trail to Goodyear's bar. There are no other options...you can't get lost. Turn left when you hit the road again, ride through Goodyear's bar and out to hwy 49. Go west on hwy 49 back towards where you started, but only go about 1.5 miles to Halls Ranch trail (it is across from Indian Rock picnic area and pretty hard to miss). Follow the trail up for 2 miles and then follow the sign for Fiddle creek trail. 6 miles after the sign, you are back on a road, turn left and go back to hwy 49. Turn left onto hwy 49 and go back up hwy 49 for about 1.5 miles to Rocky Rest campground. Go to the car and get a beer...
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Review Date April 17, 2001
Overall Rating 4 of 5
Ridden Trail: Once a month
Reviewed by: sarah
, from Nevada city
Summary: Some downed trees from winter storms otherwise sweet, watch for ticks!
Recommended Route: Start @ Rocky Rest campground head out on trail, out and back or ride road back or shuttle to Goodyears Bar, all until trail is completed to Downieville.
Other recommended trails in the same area: Halls Ranch
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4.63 of 5
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