4 Days in the northern Sierra Nevada - The Lost Sierra

OTG_1 · Jul 22, 2024

A few Julys ago, we set out on the Lost Sierra 4x4 Trail with a small group of friends. I'd driven (or ridden on my mountain bike) the vast majority of this trail in bits and pieces, but never as one cohesive route. In an effort to spice things up a bit, I decided to alter the original route and take a detour through the first half of Poker Flat OHV Trail from Saddleback Mountain to Howland Flat ghost town. I was also a bit concerned that my full size rig would have trouble with one of the rather narrow creek crossings on the second half of Poker Flat as the trail width was barely wide enough for my previous vehicle, a Land Cruiser.

The Crew
Myself and Thomas in the Ram 3500, Ryan + family in their Nissan Xterra, Angie + family in her Xterra, Kiley in his Lexus GX460, Monica and Daniel in her 4runner.

Day 0
We reserved a group site at Hornswoggle Campground near Bullards Bar. It had a ton of room, even though there only ended up being three vehicles that night. Definitely a nice staging area if you plan to hit this trail with a group.

Day 1
Ryan and his family met us at Hornswoggle camp, and then the group was off (myself + Thomas, Kiley, Ryan + fam, Angie + fam). We paralleled the Yuba River along highway 49 until turning off at Cal-Ida. The first 9 or so miles are paved, but immediately you begin to see remnants of the Lost Sierra's mining past. Within the first mile you'll see an old wooden aqueduct or sluice on your right that still carries water from the creek. We'd stop at Saddleback Mountain Lookout, that would be the first of three lookouts we'd visit that weekend. The road up to the lookout is super fun-- steep, loose, a few rocks to spice things up. It's always fun when you get to throw your rig into 4-low. The views atop Saddleback were fantastic, especially since there were no major fires burning in the state at the time! We chatted with Tony who was manning the lookout before heading back down to our rigs. As we were readying to leave, a pair of SxS's pulled up who'd just come from Poker Flat, and informed us we were the first vehicles they'd run into on the trail.

Well, it was off to Poker Flat next. I'd never done this section of Poker flat, but I'd driven the second half from Howland Flat to Quincy-la Porte Road a couple of years back. The descent was super windy, very steep, with some rocky sections. Again, more time spent in 4-low! Mad Martigan (our Ram 3500) handled the creek crossing without batting an eye. The other rigs made it through without any issue as well. We ended up breaking for lunch at the creek, and the kids loved it as they splashed about in the water.

After lunch we'd head up the hill. Things got steep and slippery real fast! Within the first 150 yards of trail, there was a decent amount of water run off, which made it a bit of a challenge to gain traction, especially on one rutted out section that gave many of the rigs a bit of trouble. Kiley was having trouble gaining traction through that section, but we later learned he forgot to engage his center locker, which would explain why his front tire kept spinning and the rear tires failed to gain any traction (it happens to the best of us!). After we made it through the rutted section, the next 3-4 miles were spent in 4-low going up the steep, loose and chunky trail. I'd love to go back and do the entire trial, but I fret the trail isn't wide enough for the ram on one of the creek crossings on the second half of Poker Flat (another reason I decided to reroute the adventure through the first half of poker flat).

At the top of the mountain, Howland Flat Ghost Town was waiting for us. At its peak it was home to several thousand inhabitants, 3 saloons, mercantile shops, a school, post office and hotel. We ended up visiting the old cemetery, which is super spooky. Numerous old buildings still remain spread across the area, and the tailings... the extend for miles and miles along the road towards St Louis bridge. It's absolutely mind boggling how much earth (and destruction) the miners moved in search of gold. For the sake of time, we didn't get out of the vehicles and explore some of the old buildings along the way. I was hoping we'd be able to snag a site along the creek near Old St Louis Bridge, but no surprise, a couple of groups had already set up camp along the creek. We ended up driving out to Pilot Lake and found a few plausible campsites near a rather impressive Christian Summer Camp. We ended up over the hill from the camp along the Slate Creek Diggins-- an open serpentine barren that would provide exquisite views of the night sky.

While enjoying our dinners, we heard the recognizable rumble of what sounded like a 2-stroke engine. A person crested the knoll atop an old ATV pulling a trailer that appeared to be filling with gear. I don't recall the bloke's name, but he was rather personable and informed us he ran the camp on the other wide of the hill. He also informed us that this area was rich with gold, and in fact, a 96 oz gold nugget was found by a local miner at these diggings, and was on display in the Smithsonian (who knows if that's true or not!?). He'd brought along a heavy duty industrial vacuum which he used to suck up the serpentine dirt and topsoil. This would go into a series of plastic 5 gallon buckets, which would then be sorted using a vibrating sluice box to separate the gold ore. He let the kids get into the action and they loved it. He also promised to sift through the kids' collected dirt to see if they'd manage to find any gold in their house-cleaning activities.

We were expecting Daniel to arrive with his friend Monica later that night. Daniel's truck was in the shop, so he was hitching a ride with Monica in her 4Runner. They ended up arriving sometime after 10pm that night, at which point we decided it was time to turn in.

More on Day 2 soon!

Eureka City Diggins, our first discovery point stop!

Tony's built quite the reputation around these parts. @saddleback lookout

Looking down Saddleback Mountain.

Things getting fun as we drop onto the Poker Flat OHV Trail

170 years later, and bandits are still a problem in the Lost Sierra!

Lunch Break at Canyon Creek aka the Creek Crossing

The Poker Flat shack has seen better days

Touchdown!! Poker Flat ******!

The cemetery at Howland Flat ghost town. There's a creep campsite right across the road if you're into communicating with the dead.

Our neighbor at the Slate Creek Diggings. He claimed a 96oz gold nugget was discovered here.

alanymarce · Jul 22, 2024

I was confused until I realised that this is a different Sierra Nevada...

OTG_1 · Jul 23, 2024

Day 2
Our neighbor atop his ATV came by camp shortly after 9am as he'd promised. He'd sifted through the buckets of dirt the kids collected, and claimed to have found a few gold flakes in the gravel. He gave one of the kids the flakes in a glass bottle. The kids were all super stoked they'd found real gold, which set a good tone for the day. We hit the trail about 20 minutes later. The section of trail from old townsite of St Louis passes between Mt Fillmore and Mt Etna, which is one of my favorite parts of the trail. We'd break for a short break at McRae Meadows, which was surprisingly empty (maybe 1 campsite was taken). A number of SxS's came ripping through, and the sound of their small block engines thundered through the meadows. I really look forward to the day all of those things are electrified, because the noises they make are just egregious.

From McRae Meadows we'd climb up past the A-tree, where things started to get a bit steeper, with lots of loose rocks-- time for 4-low! I'd ridden my mountain bike through this section several years ago, and knew the views up the mountain were second to none. We reached a plateau, and some bloke had set up camp with his 4-wheel camper. Good thing he had a camper because the wind was whipping through at a good 25-35 mph! The views were fantastic, but the rest of the group didn't seem to inclined to hang out in the blustery wind for more than a few minutes. We'd head back down the mountain on our way to Plumas-Eureka State Park.

The drive down the old Johnsville-McRae Road is just bumpy enough to keep things interesting-- and the scenery ain't half bad either! Going down in my rig was certainly a lot more enjoyable than making the 2,000' ascent via my mountain bike. We'd break for lunch at the day use area next to Jamison Creek, and what do you know the kids were back playing in the water again. I damn near had had to force feed Thomas his lunch, as there's no way he'd be eating on his own volition with a distraction like a creek nearby. After lunch, a small group of us decided to head back to the main mining area (there are numerous) at Plumas Eureka State Park. We explored the museum, which was really interesting. Of course the museum had relics on display from the old mine, but it also had a number of maps, diagrams, and model replics of the old mine building. I was most impressed by the old map which shown all of the mine shafts that had been excavated to extract gold ore from the mountain. From there we explored many of the old buildings, many of which have been renovated. The blacksmith shop was even open, and as you can see below a couple of old timers were doing their best to convince us they were real life blacksmiths (maybe they were!). The old mill was super cool as well, unfortunately the general public can only get within about 20 yards of the old mill, which is off limits to the public for safety reasons. They've also got a cool little sluice filled with gravel, water, and a couple of gold pans that kids can play with as well.

Next on our agenda was Frasier Falls, about a 45 minute drive away. We passed through the town of Graeagle and stopped to get gas. It was July 2nd, and apparently this was the day that everyone in the northern Sierras decided to celebrate the 4th. I wish I had some photos to show, but this place was hopping! I'm talking several thousand people walking all over, and many on their way to being rather inebriated! It looked like quite the celebration, but we had a waterfall to go see! We followed a 1 lane paved forest service road that climbed the mountain, which also happened to have a perfect view of Mills Peak in the distance (the second lookout we'd visit on day 3). We reached the parking area which had about a dozen vehicles parked. The "hike" to Frasier Falls is about 1/2 mile on a paved path that takes about 10 minutes. The group walked out to the viewing platform, while I opted to launch the drone and capture some videos. It wasn't raging the like the last time we'd visited, but there was still a decent flow spilling over the 176' falls. The falls are rather impressive, especially if you can visit in late spring or early Summer when the runoff from snowmelt kicks the creeks and streams into full gear! This most be one hell of a route (it is!), because both the kids and adults all seemed to be enjoying themselves, which is a rarity!

Between Plumas-Eureka SP and Frasier Falls, we'd manage to burn up quite a bit of time. Looking at what remained along our planned route, I thought it'd be a good idea to begin searching for camp. Well, easier said than done, especially over the 4th of July Weekend! We were wandering the trails below Mills Peak, but just kept coming up short. We'd find a spot that was decent for 3 vehicles, but not ideal for the 5 rigs in our group. I found what I thought was a really nice spot adjacent to a meadow and called over the radios for the group to check it out. The group arrived and everyone thought we'd found camp-- hah! We jumped out of our vehicles only to be swarmed by hundreds of mosquitoes. It took us all of 20 seconds to decide this spot would not work. Again, we found ourselves splitting up and searching the various roads below Mills Peak and the dense, swampy meadows at the base of the mountain. I found a clearing that was dry and relatively mosquito free on the road up to Mills Peak. I radioed the group to come check out the proposed camp for the night, and after assessing that the mosquito population here was rather manageable, we set up camp.

Here's a small tip if you own a drone. If you've never crashed your drone, don't gloat to your friends about it! Hah-- well that's what I did, and within about 2 minutes, I clipped a pine tree while trying to get a nice spotlighting shot of one of the rigs (a few beers may have contributed to my miscalculations!). I did damage a couple of the rotors, but the the drone was still flyable and everything else seemed to be in working order. While flying the drone I also discovered the Sierra Buttes were just a few miles away as the crow flies. Later that evening I'd walk up to the edge of the meadow and could see the buttes from there as well.

There was not gravel or dirt for the kids to prospect this evening, but they really seemed to love the meadow. They were running about playing games, throwing things about, and just making a lot noise! Our camp was around 6700', and we could definitely feel the cool air compared to the previous night. The stars were amazing.

Somewhere near Mt Etna.

McRae Meadows

Above the A-Tree

Lakes Basin Viewpoint

Lakes Basin Viewpoint

Jamison Creek

The old blacksmith shop at Plumas-Eureka SP. Fakin' it or for real? He's got me convinced!

Eureka Mine stamp mill

Plumas-Eureka SP Museum

Plumas-Eureka SP Museum

OTG_1 · Jul 23, 2024

More photos!

Frasier Falls Lookout

The falls were running a bit low given the below average snowfall of the previous winter.

Camp below Mills Peak with the Sierra Buttes in the background.

Future dog trainer?

Sierra Valley · Jul 23, 2024

Awesome thats my back yard that I grew up in!

RealTruck · Jul 23, 2024

These are amazing photos! From the looks of it, everyone has had the best time!

Pacific Northwest yetti · Jul 23, 2024

Thanks for sharing!

OTG_1 · Jul 24, 2024

Some of the things we saw/experienced on days 3 & 4 included a visit to the top of Mills Peak fire lookout, a trip to upper Sardline Lake (which has fantastic views of the Sierra Buttes), so many views above Lakes Basin, a visit to Sierra Buttes lookout, and a drive through historic downtown Downieville. We didn't get a chance to visit Alleghany and Forest Hill ghost town on this trip.

Days 3 & 4
We started day 3 with a quick trip up to the Mills Peak fire lookout, which has fantastic views of the Lost Sierra and Sierra Buttes. From there, we'd work our way into the melee around some of the more popular lakes in Lakes Basin. First up, was Upper Sardine Lake. A short and rocky jeep track brings you to the upper lake, which features some of the best views of the Sierra Buttes. I've only visited during the day, but I'm thinking I need to camp here one day during the middle of the week-- perhaps late summer when the crowds have died down a bit. We only meant to stay for lunch, but between all of the kids chucking rocks into the lake, it was more like a two hour stopover!

From Sardine Lakes, we'd make our way to Gold Lake, up the Gold Lake OHV Trail, that would bring us to Lots-o-lakes OHV trail. And while there may not be many lakes atop the ridge, there's plenty to see down below in Lakes Basin Recreation Area. Lots-o-lakes also has dozens of campsites with fantastic views, but it does get pretty windy up on the ridge. Given we were out over a holiday weekend, just about every decent campsite was already taken.
Lots-o-lakes spits you out at Packer Saddle, a favorite jump off point for the mountain bike crowd making the 5k foot decent into Downieville.
Sierra Buttes was sitting dead center in front of the trail, rising several thousand feet above us. Up, up and away we'd go. If you're not a fan of steep and loose trails (think San Francisco hills steep), and throw in a good dose of shelf roads towards the top, well, you may not want to head up to the lookout atop Sierra Buttes. We made the drive up, passing several vehicles along the way, finally emerging out of the forest and onto the barren shelf roads near the top of Sierra buttes. The group opted to park at one of the hairpin turns to ensure we wouldn't get boxed in by other vehicles coming up. Sierra Buttes featuring 180+ steps up a series of ladders and stairwells that criss-cross there way up the crags that form the Sierra Buttes. While the views were fantastic, walking up the stairs was actually the best part of the experience!

We'd leave the lookout in search of camp, and it seemed like every site within 5 miles of Packer Saddle was occupied. So I headed to an trailhead with a large clearing that was part of the old Downieville Downhill MTB trail-- score! It wasn't the nicest site, but it was more than big enough for our group. The next day we'd make the white knuckle descent down an incredibly narrow shelf road (at least for Big Blue the Ram 3500) that would drop us down to Highway 49. We'd drive through the historic mining town of Downieville, air up, and then head home.