Ode to Downieville
by bear adventure
If you are dedicated to mountain biking you have probably heard of the town of Downieville. It is a one-block town in the middle of the Sierra with quite a history. What started as a gold mining town, is now a popular mountain bike destination for riders all over the world. When I (Nathan) first went to Downieville, I was amazed at how great the trails were all around, but it took a few years for me to realize there is a lot more to Downieville than its world-class trails.
Sitting on the confluence of the North Yuba and Downie River, the town of Downieville was founded in late 1849 during the California Gold Rush. It was first known as “The Forks” for its geographical location but was soon renamed after Major William Downie the town’s founder. Major Downie first came to the area by traveling upriver by steamboat and called to the spot “the handsomest I have ever seen in the mountains” after finding gold along the river without even requiring a shovel! It wasn’t long until gold-hungry miners found out about the town. Within the next year, Downieville had 15 hotels, 4 bakeries, 4 butcher shops, and numerous saloons. Downieville quickly became the largest town in the Lost Sierra and one of the richest in California.
Eventually, the gold hunt became uneconomical and hydraulic mining became illegal in 1884, but forestry kept the town alive. Downieville became home to the United States Forest Service district office, which supported as many as 50 full-time employees and even more seasonal workers. But in later years with new environmental laws hindering the logging industry, the USFS moved the district ranger office to Nevada City, California. The town of Downieville started to dwindle down to a ghost town.
The Downieville experience
The tide turned in 1988 when Greg Williams started up the very first Downieville shuttle experience that Downieville would soon start to grow the interest of a new kind of crowd. In 1989, Williams organized Downieville’s first mountain bike event called the Downieville Descent even though the riders climbed for most of the day. It was a 60-mile ride that started from town and offered food and support along the way. By 1995, Williams opened up the Coyote Adventure Company bike shop in town next to the town’s pizza parlor. They had no idea if it would succeed, but they were dedicated to trying. Williams woke up one day and decided he wanted to put on a bike race called the Coyote Classic which would later be called the Downieville Classic. 1998 welcomed the very first organized mountain bike race to the area. The race soon grew the interest from mountain bikers all over, and is, arguably, what put Downieville on the map as a worldwide mountain bike destination.
I (Nathan) first visited Downieville on a summer weekend trip with a group of friends. My friends had always talked about Downieville and I couldn’t wait to ride out there. That day my friends and I did 2 runs, heading down the downhill on the first run and then we headed out to Big Boulder on the second run. I was a little in over my head my first time out there, one of the guys in our group even cut his knee open on a rock and we had to use duct tape to close up his knee and continue to ride into town to get him to the nearest emergency room. Despite having found out what the insides of a knee looks like and going over the bars a few times that day, I was pretty intrigued by my first Downieville experience.
Every time I went back to Downieville, I crashed a little less on the downhill. We would take the shuttle to the top, ride down and hang out and the river with pizzas and burgers. I started to see more of Downieville than just its world-class trails. First of all, the sheer beauty of the area is just unforgettable. The steep canyons carved out by crystal clear creeks, filled with immense pine trees. And once you reach the top of the mountains the panoramic views are mesmerizing! There isn’t much cell service in town since it sits at the bottom of a canyon so it’s a place where you just put your phone away, enjoy the company of the people around you. As for the actual town of Downieville, the town hasn’t changed much in the last 100 years, and the locals hang out on the streets talking to each other and watching the children play. Being in Downieville is like stepping back to the late 1800s when life was simpler.
Exploring the outdoors
Ashley spent the summers of her childhood exploring Downieville and the surrounding area. Her grandparents moved to the town when she was young and she would spend her summers up there exploring the trails and creeks in the area. She bought a full suspension bike in 2016 and started to appreciate the more intense trails in a new way. Having only ridden the Downieville Classic’s cross country course once in all her time there, she raced her first Downieville Classic in 2016, and on top of that, she did it with a 104 fever. From then on she has raced the Classic every year. As a child, she used to walk around the festivities wondering if she would ever fit in with these people while her dad lovingly warned her not to marry a mountain biker.
Little did she know that most of the people she admired for so long would soon become her friends. Despite having that deep affection (addiction??) for mountain biking, Downieville holds a place in a different part of her soul as well. My wife is happiest when she is laying in solitude in the sun on a rock after a cold swim in the Yuba. She knows a lot of the residents of Downieville and loves seeing the people she grew up with and talking with them. She has known Downieville as more than an area of recreation as so many only see, to her it is the home that holds the truest place in her heart.
Pedaling with your partner
Downieville has been our favorite place to go to together since we first met. We have been exploring and riding the trails together in the place we love. At our very first Downieville Classic together I proposed to Ashley as she crossed the finish line. She said yes, and we were engaged surrounded by our friends and family. We got married just a couple of months later at the Sierra Buttes Lookout Tower which overlooks the entire Lost Sierra and rode the Tower to Town route to enjoy our first ride as a married couple.
If you keep hearing about Downieville and the greater Lost Sierra area and have yet to go, pay attention. There are some trails here that can give you the bang for your trip. Of course, take into account your skill level and comfort level when riding these trails. Trust the ratings and trust yourself to make the right decision. The following sections will outline 4 recommended trails if you are in the Downieville and Lost Sierra areas.
The Downieville Downhill
These trails are the most ridden by shuttle users in Downieville. They are fast, fun, and rocky. From Pack Saddle start off on the Sunrise Flow Trail, to Butcher Singletrack. You will come to the first major obstacle called “The Gorge” where you have to cross through drainage with a rocky entrance and a steep rocky exit. A lot of riders stop here to look at their line and try to conquer the gorge. After the gorge, the trail gets pretty technical and rocky from there, it’s difficult to make it without putting a foot down. The next major obstacle is “The Waterfall'' where you have to ride through a series of water channels and rocks to try and make it to the other side. After the waterfall, the trail opens up and gets faster and flowier following the Butcher and Pauley Creeks.
After dropping down to Pauley Creek and a little climb to the top of the saddle you will come to the Third Divide which is a popular favorite among riders. The trail starts off with a fast straight-away where you can reach speeds of over 40 mph through the trees, and it continues with some high-speed corners and high-speed rock gardens if you can hang on. The last major obstacle and also the most difficult out of the three called “The Wall” is at the bottom Third Divide. You have to get as much momentum as you can before it and then shift down all your gears heading into the obstacle. Use your momentum to get you up the initial part of the wall and then if you are still up on your wheels you have to try and crank it out to get over the rocks and roots at the top. Pedal out the rest of the ride on the First Divide which winds down the canyon along the Lavazola and Pauley Creeks brings you right back to town.
Gold Valley Rim Trail/Pauley Creek
If you’re looking for a ride with epic views, fun downhills and don’t mind doing some pedaling, this ride is for you! Starting from Pack Saddle again head north to the Gold Valley Rim Trailhead. You will ride up and down the ridgeline on a trail that used to be the Pacific Crest Trail just a few years ago until the PCT was rerouted closer to lakes and water. Along the ridgeline, you will have epic views of the Sierra Buttes and all the valleys around until you come to the top of the ridge which looks over the pristine Deer Lake. Once on the Deer Lake Overlook it’s time to buckle up for a brand new trail that the Stewardship built just a few years ago. The Gold Valley Rim Trail downhill offers a lot of flow and rock rollovers which keeps you on your toes all throughout the trail.
GVRT then drops you outright at the top of “Baby Heads” which is a 4x4 road covered with a bunch of big cobbles. Hang on tight because it is a fast, bumpy ride down to Pauley Creek. Once at the bottom of Baby heads, the trail continues down following the creek and crosses over a couple of old bridges until your back on the Butcher Ranch Trail.
Big Boulder: After riding through Gold Valley Rim Trail, and once you get down to the Pauley Creek Trail, take your first right and head up the fire road to the top of Big Boulder Trail. It is a bit of a climb with some hike-a-bike, but once you’re at the top of Big Boulder, you’ll be on top of a mountain with views all around and a view of the Sierra Buttes again. You will then drop down to the top of the Third Divide Trail on one of the flowiest and most fun trails in the Downieville area.
Mills Peak Trail
A little outside of the Downieville trails is a trail called Mills Peak trail. The lower trailhead is out of a pretty little town called Graeagle, and the upper trailhead is at the peak of the mountain right underneath the lookout tower. A lot of riders like to shuttle this run, but Ashley and I like to ride it as an out and back starting from the lower trailhead. The downhill is fast and flowy with the right amount of technical rock sections, and the uphill is a challenge but rides well enough that we are able to ride it all without putting a foot down. The views at the top are spectacular! If you climb up to the rocky ridge at the top of the mountain you have some pretty amazing views of Lakes Basin, Mount Elwell, with the Sierra Buttes towering over all of it.
Downieville has a lot more to offer than just the Downieville Downhill or Cross Country course. If you are like some people and prefer the solitude of mountain biking rather than packing in a shuttle and riding as fast as possible downhill, know that you have options! Get yourself a map from Yuba Expeditions and look at all of the trails Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship has rehabbed and/or built. There are about a dozen just out of the Downieville area.
Thank you for taking the time to read our blog post! Feel free to share your Downieville stories and what the whole Lost Sierra means to you. And if you haven’t been out there yet, we hope this article encourages you to make the trip out there and experience the magic of the Lost Sierra.
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