North Fork Yuba River
Downieville / Sierra City (Hwy 49, Sierra County) · near Downieville / Sierra City · Gold Country & Central Valley
Rivers & Whitewater
At a glance
- Season
- April–June · Free-flowing snowmelt — short, punchy spring season
Permits and booking
- Permit
- Tahoe National Forest. Free-flowing; snowmelt-dependent spring run paralleling Hwy 49. Steep, technical, read-and-run whitewater for experienced boaters.
What is here
- Activities
- guided-rafting · kayaking
Worth knowing
- Minimum age
- 14+ (steep, technical water)
- Good for a first timer
- No
Guides, rentals and operators
- Operators
- Tributary Whitewater · W.E.T. River Trips
- Outfitters
- Experienced-boater / local kayak runs
Rivers & Whitewater detail
- Nickname
- Downieville's Steep Creek
- Class min
- III
- Class max
- IV+
- Trip options
- Day runs (Goodyears Bar and other stretches) · Spring snowmelt only
- Key rapids
- Goodyears Bar run · Rossasco Ravine / Fiddle Creek stretches
- Intl tip
- Downieville is a tiny, perfect Gold Rush town at the confluence of the North Yuba and Downie rivers — the Downieville Downhill (MTB guide) and the river share the same canyon. The South Yuba's swimming holes (swimming and rivers guides) are downstream. A classic Lost Sierra base.
The guide
The North Fork Yuba, tumbling down Highway 49 through Downieville and Sierra City, is a steep, technical, free-flowing spring r…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to North Fork Yuba River — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 39.559, -120.828