26 |
SOUTH YUBA |
DISTANCE: 2.0 miles round-trip
HIKING TIME: 1.0 hour
SEASON: March–May
DIFFICULTY: easy
South Yuba Independence Trail is the first identified wheelchair wilderness trail in the United States, and it features 6.0 miles of hard-packed dirt and wooden flumes (bridges) along the river canyon. Outhouses built for wheelchair users dot the trail as well as accessible platforms for picnicking and fishing on Rush Creek. The path was built in 1859 as a canal to carry water from the South Yuba River to a hydraulic mining site 25 miles downstream.
At the trailhead, you can hike east or west. For the most scenic stretch, head to the left (west) for 1.0 mile. In the first 100 yards, duck your head to tunnel under Hwy. 49. Then traverse a dense wood and pass a roofed platform proffering an overlook of the South Yuba River. Leave the trees and find a cliff-hanging flume, its wooden boards making a horseshoe-shaped turn around the back of a canyon. Above and below it, Rush Creek Falls flows in tiers over polished granite. An intricate ramp circles down the flume to the creek’s edge, just above the main drop of the fall. It’s a fine place to picnic, fish, or just admire the flowing water. Head back the way you came to return to your car.
If you’d like to hike farther, the trail’s eastward section features cliff-hanging flumes and more views of the river.
From I-80 in Auburn, drive north on Hwy. 49 for 35 miles past Nevada City to the trailhead along the highway (just before the South Yuba River bridge). Park at the paved pullout.
