Yuba River Gold Country Dual Sport Adventure Ride; explores the best dirt mining roads, back-roads and historic hydraulic mining sites in the California Gold Country.

The Yuba River Canyon Dual Sport Adventure Ride; explores the ancient San Juan Ridge and three historic river crossings on the Yuba River Canyon north of Nevada City. This dual sport adventure ride begins in the lower Sierra Nevada foothills and explores dirt roads & back-roads to the historic Bridgeport Covered Bridge. The discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill by James Marshall in 1848 brought gold seekers to California, desperately searching all of the Sierra foothill tributaries and rivers, soon after Jonas Spect discovered gold near Rose’s Bar in June of 1848. Rose’s Bar was a short distance downstream from present-day Bridgeport Covered Bridge. The gold seekers poured into the South Yuba River Canyon creating a need to construct a bridge. Before a bridge was constructed the gold seekers overturned their wagons and tied them together to create makeshift barges. Before long river ferries were constructed along the Yuba River; Point Defiance Ferry (near present day Bridgeport) , Jones Bar Ferry (near present day Hwy. 49 Bridge), Moore’s Ferry (present day Purdon Bridge); and Edward’s Crossing near Illinois Bar. As the gold seeker continued to pour into the Yuba River Canyon the need to construct a bridge grew even greater sparking the construction of the historic Bridgeport Covered Bridge. The Bridgeport Covered Bridge on the South fork of the Yuba River is the longest single-span wooden covered bridge in America measuring in at over 230 feet. The historic bridge was originally constructed in 1862 and was part of the Virginia Turnpike Company Toll Road that served the northern mines and traffic to and from Virginia City and the Comstock Lode in Nevada. Today this historic covered bridge stands as a test of time from the early days of the California Gold Rush. After crossing the Yuba River this dual sport adventure continues off-road on a historic wagon route to the once thriving community of French Corral where one will find a lone standing but well preserved brick Wells Fargo Building. The French Corral Wells Fargo Building is one of the sharpest and most striking “Old West” buildings to be found in the Gold Country. Constructed during the town’s heyday during the 1850’s, the one-story brick structure was solidly built and fitted with iron doors and shutters, more for protection against bad-men than fire in this location, as large amounts of gold were stored and shipped from this office. After visiting the historic Wells Fargo building at French Corral your adventure continues on back-roads then soon ventures off-road once again on a historic mining route to Purdon’s Crossing Bridge. The historic Purdon Crossing Bridge located on the Yuba River was built in 1895, this historic metal bridge is the only half-through metal truss system left west of the Rocky Mountains. From the Purdon Crossing Bridge this historic off-road mining route winds up a twisty route through a heavily wooded canyon to the top of the ridge. From the top of the ridge this historic mining route ventures further up river to a rugged section of the Yuba River Canyon to the historic site of Edward’s Crossing near Illinois Bar. During the heyday of the 1800’s the gold seekers used Edward’s Crossing as the main mining route between Nevada City and North Bloomfield which is located on the ancient San Juan Ridge. The ancient San Juan Ridge, was the location of a massive hydraulic mining operation during the California Gold Rush. The hydraulic mining blasted away huge quantities of the ancient river beds of the San Juan Ridge leaving behind vast canyons and dramatic cliff-sides throughout the countryside. This adventure ride explores some of the most dramatic hydraulic carving in the entire gold country including the spectacular and historic Malakoff Diggins and nearby ghost town known as North Bloomfield. First settled in 1852, the mining camp was originally named Humbug after the creek of the same name. As the boom town grew, it was soon re-named Humbug City, and then the more dignified North Bloomfield. The mining town thrived during the Malakoff Diggins mining days when hydraulic mining was in full operation and the population grew to 2,000. A number of engineering marvels were created during the boom to support hydraulic mining which included the world’s first long distance telephone line that passed through North Bloomfield as it made its way from French Corral to Bowman Lake. This telephone line was put in place to support a massive series of ditches and flumes that brought water to the hydraulic mines on the San Juan Ridge. In North Bloomfield, a huge drainage tunnel was built to drain the massive amount of runoff from the mining operations to Humbug Creek. This drainage tunnel was 7,874 feet long and 200 feet below the surface and was punctuated by eight drainage pipes along the way. After years of hydraulic mining the massive amount of rock and earth washing down the Yuba River Canyon change the course of the river as it flowed into the Sacramento Valley creating massive floods in the farmland. The massive amount of erosion and flooding in the valley eventually became the demise of hydraulic mining when valley farmers filed a lawsuit and put an end to hydraulic mining in 1884. Soon after the end of hydraulic mining North Bloomfield became an uninhabited San Juan Ridge ghost town. In present day, the town of North Bloomfield contains many well-preserved historic structures from the 1800’s heyday which is a must-see place in the California Gold Country.

Yuba River Gold Country Adventure Ride

*This dual sport adventure ride is perfect for medium to large dual sport bikes.

*Off-road terrain is rated “moderate” with lots of gold rush history & adventure.

*Ride distance: 200 miles round trip (30% Dirt – 70% Back-Roads)

*One gas stop (additional gas stop available if required)

*Lunch at halfway point (Note: Lunch not included)

*Rain or Shine – unpredictable weather is part of the adventure!!!

Date: Saturday May 22, 2010

Meeting Time: 8:45 a.m.

Meeting Location: Chevron in El Dorado Hills Ca

4316 Town Center Boulevard El Dorado Hills, CA 95762-7101

Fee: $75 per rider

$25 off if you pre-register by: May 15, 2010

Pre-Register now!

*Contact: Mark at (916) 212-2232

*Questions email: markg@SierraNevadaAdventures.com

Share on Facebook

10 Responses to “Yuba River Gold Country Dual Sport Adventure”