South Yuba River (Gold Country)
Nevada City · near Nevada City / Grass Valley · Gold Country & Central Valley
Camping
At a glance
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Elevation
- 2600
- Campsites
- Various (state park + NF)
- Season
- Spring–fall
- Fee
- ~$0–25/night
Permits and booking
- Reservation required
- No
- How to reserve
- Mostly FIRST-COME (South Yuba River SP has limited sites; nearby NF/BLM dispersed). Famous emerald swimming holes on the wild South Yuba River in gold country. Primitive facilities. Popular summer swimming; parking fills. Check current access.
What is here
- Setting
- lake-river
- Amenities
- Emerald river swimming holes · Gold-rush history · Primitive/dispersed camping · Hiking & the historic bridge
- Best for
- River swimming + gold-country history
- Features
- World-class emerald swimming holes · South Yuba River wild & scenic · Historic covered bridge · Gold-rush ruins
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- No
Camping detail
- Camp type
- developed · dispersed
- Intl tip
- Mostly FIRST-COME/dispersed (limited state-park sites) — check current access. WORLD-CLASS emerald swimming holes (arrive early; parking fills on hot weekends). See the Bridgeport covered bridge (longest single-span in the US). Gold-rush history all around. Primitive facilities. Combine with Nevada City and gold-country towns. Summer swimming paradise.
The guide
The South Yuba River, tumbling through a rugged gold-country canyon near Nevada City, is famous for some of the finest river sw…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to South Yuba River (Gold Country) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 39.302, -121.05