South Yuba River
Nevada City / Grass Valley · near Nevada City / Grass Valley · Gold Country & Central Valley
Rivers & Whitewater · Swimming & Hot Springs
At a glance
- Season
- June–September · Best July–August when water is warm and levels are safe · Early season flows too powerful for tubing
- Temperature
- ~68–75°F (July–September)
- Cost
- Day use fee applies at most access points · Some free pullouts along Hwy 49
- Season
- Late June–September · May be dangerous in early season when snowmelt is high
Permits and booking
- Permit
- No permit. South Yuba River State Park day use fee at Empire Mine or Bridgeport access points. Self-carry tubes/kayaks. No commercial rafting operations on this section.
What is here
- Activities
- tubing · kayaking · self-guided
Worth knowing
- Minimum age
- All ages · Life jacket required for under 13 in California waters
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Safety
- Early season currents are dangerously fast — wait for post-runoff conditions (late June typical). Slippery granite when wet — water shoes strongly recommended. Supervise children closely in deeper pools.
Guides, rentals and operators
- Outfitters
- No commercial outfitters (bring your own tube/kayak)
Rivers & Whitewater detail
- Class min
- I
- Class max
- III
- Trip options
- Self-guided tube or kayak float · Day use swimming · No commercial outfitters on river
- Key rapids
- Independence Trail to Bridgeport · Hoyt's Crossing Swimming Holes · Purdon Crossing
- Intl tip
- Nevada City is one of California's finest Gold Rush era towns — Victorian architecture, independent bookstores, good restaurants, and a community arts scene that makes it genuinely worth spending a night rather than just driving through. Combine a South Yuba tubing afternoon with an evening in Nevada City for a Gold Country experience that covers both the historical and the outdoor dimensions.
Swimming & Hot Springs detail
- Nickname
- Gold Country's Emerald Pools
- Type
- swimming-hole
- Temp
- cool
- Clothing optional
- No
- Directions
- Highway 49 between Nevada City and Downieville passes multiple river access points. Most popular: the large pullout at the Hwy 49 bridge crossing near Washington Road. Bridgeport Covered Bridge access (Pleasant Valley Road, Penn Valley) is the most scenic. Oregon Creek Day Use Area (few miles south on Hwy 49) is the quieter alternative.
- Pools
- House-sized polished granite boulders · Multiple deep emerald-green pools · Warm granite slabs for sunbathing · Gold panning still practiced by hobbyists in some sections · Bridgeport section ends at historic 1862 covered bridge (longest single-span wooden covered bridge west of the Mississippi)
- Intl tip
- Nevada City, 10 minutes from the primary Hwy 49 swimming access, is one of California's finest Victorian-era towns — the downtown has been remarkably well-preserved and the independent restaurant and arts scene has no equivalent in the Sierra foothills. A South Yuba swimming afternoon followed by dinner in Nevada City is one of Gold Country's great days.
The guide
The South Yuba is California's river of lazy summer afternoons. In the canyon below Nevada City, where the river runs over poli…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to South Yuba River — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 39.3196, -120.9946