Middle Yuba River

The North Yuba River (also called the North Fork Yuba River) is the main tributary of the Yuba River in northern California in the United States. The river is about 61 miles (98 km) long and drains from the Sierra Nevada westwards towards the foothills between the mountains and the Sacramento Valley. It rises on the Sierra Crest about 8 miles (13 km) northwest of Sierraville. The river flows west through meadows, then south into a gorge, turning west again, followed by California State Route 49. The river's four major tributaries, the Downie River, Goodyears Creek, Canyon Creek and Slate Creek, enter from the right before the river abruptly turns south at the New Bullards Bar Reservoir, formed by the New Bullards Bar Dam. The dam is situated right above the river's mouth; just after the North Yuba leaves the dam it empties into the Middle Yuba River and forms the Yuba River.

Sebastopol was a historic mining community located on the San Juan Ridge, about 13 miles north of Nevada City. It lay midway between Sweetland and North San Juan, around the intersection of modern Sweetland and School Roads, at an elevation of about 2000 feet.

North San Juan is a census-designated place in Nevada County, California, United States, along State Route 49 on the San Juan Ridge in Gold Country. The zip code is 95960. The population was 269 at the 2010 census.

Sweetland is a former settlement in Nevada County, California. Located approximately 20 mi (32 km) east of Marysville, It is situated at an elevation of 1,857 ft (566 m) above sea level.

Birchville (until 1853, Johnson's Diggings) is a historic mining and agricultural community in Nevada County, California. Birchville is located about 10 miles northwest of Nevada City and about 2 miles northeast of French Corral. It is situated at an elevation of 1,765 ft (538 m) above sea level.

The 49er Fire was a large and destructive wildfire in September 1988 in the U.S. state of California's Nevada County and Yuba County. After igniting on the morning of September 11, when a homeless schizophrenic man accidentally set brush alight by burning toilet paper, the fire burned 33,700 acres throughout the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, impinging on the communities of Lake Wildwood, Rough and Ready, and Smartsville, before being declared contained on September 16. Driven by severe drought conditions and strong, dry winds, firefighting crews were hard-pressed to stop the fire's advance until winds calmed and humidity levels recovered. The 49er Fire destroyed 312 structures, including more than 140 homes, making it the most destructive wildfire in Nevada County's history and—at the time—one of the five most destructive wildfires in recorded California history. It was also the seventh most expensive California wildfire in terms of losses, which amounted to approximately $23 million. The fire highlighted the rapid pace and potential consequences of development in the wildland-urban interface, or WUI, along with several other fires in that time period, such as the Oakland firestorm of 1991 and the Fountain Fire in 1992. The 49er Fire was sometimes called the "wildfire of the 1990s" by officials in attempts to raise awareness of the growing challenges of firefighting in areas where human structures are intermingled with wildland fuels.

French Corral is an unincorporated community approximately five miles west of California State Highway 49 in Nevada County, California. It was one of the first of several historic California gold rush mining camps along the San Juan Ridge. The name was literal as the town grew around a mule corral built by the first settler in the area, a Frenchman, in 1849. It had a post office during the period of 1859 through 1945.Few original structures remain besides an old Wells Fargo Bank building.

Condemned Bar is a former settlement, in El Dorado County, California. It is in the Sierra Nevada foothills. The former town is now under Folsom Lake. A Historical Landmark marker was built at Folsom Lake State Recreation Area. The former mining town of the California Gold Rush is registered as California Historical Landmark #572.

Jones Bar is a former settlement in Nevada County, California. It is located at an elevation of 1073 feet (327 m). Jones Bar is located on the South Yuba River, 5.25 miles (8.4 km) west-northwest of Nevada City.

The Independence Trail is located approximately 7 miles from downtown Nevada City within the South Yuba River State Park in the Sierra Nevada foothills within Nevada County, in Northern California. The trail is the former Excelsior Ditch, which was found and repaired by John Olmsted and a large group of local volunteers. It is notable for being the first ADA approved wheelchair nature trail. It topped the list of "favorite trails for 2013" in The Sacramento Bee newspaper.Founded by Olmsted and Sally Cates, and built with help from countless locals, the Independence Trail transformed the historic Excelsior gold mining ditch into the nation's first identified handicapped-accessible wilderness trail. It was one of the most popular trails in the area, contouring along wooded hillsides, passing live streams, and crossing deep gorges on restored wooden flumes that once transported water for hydraulic mining. Due to safety hazards caused by landslides from heavy storms in 2017 and the Jones Fire of 2020 destroying the wooden walkways, the trail is closed until further notice. It is in the process of being rebuilt.The trail has two separate sections—West and East—that extend from one main trailhead on California State Route 49. Independence Trail West is oriented for most of its length around the canyon of Rush Creek, a large tributary stream that enters the South Yuba River at Jones Bar. The West trail features several wooden flumes, a large covered viewpoint, picnic tables and benches. Flume 28, over 500' in length, crosses above a waterfall on Rush Creek 1.1 miles west of the trailhead. It is a "must see" piece of mining history. The Independence Trail utilizes the old Excelsior Canal, built between 1854 and 1859 by hundreds of Chinese laborers. To bring high pressure water for hydraulic mining. The ditch tapped the South Yuba river more than 2 miles upstream from here, and ran all the way to what is now the dam at Lake Wildwood, then by the China Ditch to the Smartsville mining district, 15 miles west of Grass Valley. After hydraulic mining was outlawed in the 1880s the "Excelsior Ditch" was used for agricultural irrigation until it was abandoned in 1963. In 1969, John Olmsted rediscovered the rock-lined ditches, adjacent paths for ditch tenders, and wooden flumes that provided access over ravines. It is a gold country gem and part of the South Yuba River State Park.

Cherokee is a former gold mining community in Nevada County, California. As explained below, it has also been known as Patterson, Melrose and Tyler. It is located on the San Juan Ridge about 4 miles east of North San Juan. Its elevation is 2,516 ft (767 m) above sea level.

The Bridgeport Covered Bridge is located in Bridgeport, Nevada County, California, southwest of French Corral and north of Lake Wildwood. It is used as a pedestrian crossing over the South Yuba River. The bridge was built in 1862 by David John Wood. Its lumber came from Plum Valley in Sierra County, California. The bridge was closed to vehicular traffic in 1972 and pedestrian traffic in 2011 due to deferred maintenance and "structural problems".On June 20, 2014, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed budget legislation that included $1.3 million for the bridge's restoration. The work was slated to be done in two phases—near-term stabilization followed by restoration. The bridge reopened to pedestrians in November 2021 following completion of the restoration work.The Bridgeport Covered Bridge has the longest clear single span of any surviving wooden covered bridge in the world.