by Steve Evans, Wild Rivers Program Director
CANYON CREEK TRAIL–NORTH YUBA RIVER
Located in the lower elevations of the Sierra Nevada, this trail leads you along the North Yuba River to its confluence with Canyon Creek. At about 2,000 feet elevation, this is a great spring or fall hike. Although quite warm in the summer, the river offers great swimming opportunities. These two waterways were recommended by the U.S. Forest Service for National Wild and Scenic River protection.
The Tahoe National Forest web site says the trail is 3.1 miles one way from the trailhead on Highway 49 to the Kelly’s Bar at the confluence of the North Yuba and Canyon Creek (https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/tahoe/recarea/?recid=55876). That’s 6.2 miles round trip but my iPhone says I took 26,000 steps to get there and back so I’ll let you be the judge. The trail isn’t as easy as it looks on the map as it follows the North Yuba River downstream. It climbs in and out of side drainages and sometimes is close to the river sometimes higher up the canyon slope.
Your hike begins at the Canyon Creek Trailhead on Highway 49, about six miles north of the small community of Camptonville (which is north of Nevada City/Grass Valley). Right after the highway drops down into the North Yuba River canyon, look for the left turn to the trailhead parking lot after crossing the river bridge. The trail begins on an old road currently closed to vehicles (although motorized bikes are permitted).
The first mile is shade-less and can be quite warm in the summer. After the old road narrows, your route proceeds through black oaks, Douglas fir, and ponderosa pine, past a former campground, and eventually crossing a bridge over Cherokee Creek. Here the trail is reduced to single track as it continues for more than a mile to Kelly’s Bar at the confluence of Canyon Creek. In February, ladybugs were sheltering from the winter on rocks and trees at this site. Both the North Yuba and Canyon Creek were flowing rambunctiously due to winter rains. Enjoy this excellent lunch spot and then turn around and proceed back to the trailhead.
As part of its 22 Westside Rivers Study in 1999, the Forest Service found 45 miles of the North Yuba from its source near Yuba Pass on the Sierra Nevada crest to New Bullard’s Bar Reservoir to be eligible and suitable for National Wild and Scenic River protection due to its outstanding scenery, recreation, wild trout, cultural, and botany values. The agency also found eligible and recommended 30 miles of Canyon Creek from its source near Beartrap Mountain on the Yuba-Feather divide to the North Yuba confluence due to its outstanding scenery, recreation, and history values. Forest Service guidelines require them to protect the free flowing character
In 2025, the Forest Service will implement the North Yuba Landscape Resilience Project, a massive proposal to thin forests throughout the North Yuba River canyon to make them more resilient to wildfire. The Forest Service promised that the impact of the project on the outstanding scenery and recreation values of North Yuba River will not be substantially noticeable to the visiting public. Please let us know what you think if you see evidence of this project on your hike (primarily on the heavily forested north-facing slopes of the canyon as you hike downstream).
Before embarking on your hike, call the Forest Service at (530) 288-3231 for the latest road and trail information. As always, let someone know where you are going and when you intend to return, bring food and water, and be prepared for changing weather conditions.
