South Yuba ride
This is one of the trails I look forward to riding every year, scenery, no traffic, technical in spots, and long enough to leave you satisfied. There's more climbing than you would think for a trail that follows a river, the difference of 500 feet from top to bottom is misleading. I recommend riding it out and back if you have the time and energy, if not, you could do a long loop to include all the singletrack, or drop the Missouri Bar trail and just catch half of it. The section above the Missouri Bar intersection has more climbing and is more technical than the lower section. The climbs can be steep but are never very long, a rear tire with good tread is recommended. The hiker-only Humbug Trail has some nice stretches but there's quite a few rough sections so it doesn't make the best bike trail.
Driving directions:
To start at the lower trailhead, first find your way to Nevada City, then, just a few hundred feet west of where highway 49 intersects with highway 20 look for Coyote St. (there may be a sign here for N. Bloomfield Rd. as well, I don't remember). Follow this road north and it soon becomes N. Bloomfield Rd. Stay on this narrow, winding, paved road for 9 miles. Descend to the S. Yuba river at Edwards Crossing, go across the bridge and continue up the other side a mile or two to a signed intersection, stay right and in a minute or so you will see the South Yuba Camp and Trail sign. Park in the first lot, the trail starts at the far end of the lot. There is supposedly a trail along the river back where the bridge was, but I've never been on it, will check it out and report back. There is good water available in the campground during the camping season.
To start at the upper trailhead, turn north off highway 20 onto Washington Rd. (about halfway between I-80 and Nevada City), there's just a regular little street sign here so keep your eyes peeled. This wide paved road drops steeply to the tiny "town" of Washington. There's a little store but not much else. Go straight through town, across the bridge, then stay on the pavement and to the left when possible and follow the sign to Relief Hill Rd. This soon becomes gravel and within a mile you will see a sign for the trailhead on your left.
The ride:
No route finding skills necessary, all the intersections are well signed. The only spot I had trouble was finding the top of Missouri Bar trail, nearly rode right past it. There is a sign but it's tucked back in the shade and easy to miss, also, it doesn't take off from the main road but from a little spur. There are ticks in the grass and plenty of poison oak hanging over the trail.
Note: The blue dashed line is the actual location of the South Yuba trail, black dashed lines are the inaccurate guesses found on most maps, yellow dashes are the Missouri Bar trail, red dashes are the hiker-only Humbug trail, black dots are gravel/dirt roads.
Don't even THINK of bringing your Vespa.
Bring plenty of water!
