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Overview

• Date Reviewed: Summer 2002
• Type of trail : Multiple Options - One Way Shuttle
• Distance as rode : 22 miles
• Total Miles (Available) : 30+ miles
• Climbing Distance : Less than 1000' if shuttled
• Trip Duration : 5 Hour Ride time; 6 hours total drive time (from Stockton)
• Difficulty : Varied, mostly 5-6 (Scale of 1-10)
• Trail Type : 20% Fireroad+, 20% 4WD Trails, 60% Singletrack
• Cardio : Moderate w/Shuttle - Extemely Stenuous Without
• Time of day : Morning - Early Afternoon

Summary

Snuggled way up North in the Tahoe National Forest is a tiny little town that derives it's revenue from Fishing, Gold Mining, and Mountain Biking. Downieville is situated right on Hiway 49 on the banks of the Yuba River which is where most of the gold mining and fishing takes place. More importantly the town sits at the base of one of the most fun and challenging sets of mountain biking trails in California.

The Downieville Downhill is a combination of 4 wheel drive trails, fireroads, and singletrack that stretches 19 miles from Packer Saddle to the town of Downieville. Most people shuttle up the 4000' climb, which is what we did. You also have the option of climbing up asphalt and gravel roads to the top making it a 38 mile loop. I hate shuttling anywhere, but 4000' is simply beyond my ability at this point. One of my goals for next year is to ride Downieville without the shuttle.

Steve has some videos of our ride posted on his web site.

Location:

Take I-80 East from Sacramento to Auburn. From Auburn take 49 North to Downieville. If you are shuttling I suggest you call ahead and find out from the shuttle service where to park your car. We used Downieville Outfitters, but I didn't care for the bike racks on their vehicle.

Links

• Steve Wolf's Videos of our ride
• Check out my Big Boulder Ride Report also!
• Roger McGee's Ride Guides for Downieville good detailed ride reports, but we found a few typo's that almost lost us.
• P e t e F a g e r l i n - Photos, narative, and video from Downieville
• Downieville Outfitters shuttle service, trail guides and bike rentals
• Yuba Expeditions shuttle service

I went with Steve Wolf who went with me to Wilder Ranch in Santa Cruz a few weeks ago. Steve is a bit older than me and a more conservative rider than I am, riding at his pace probably saved me from a nasty crash. Fortunately luck was with us and we both stayed crash free and had no mechanical problems or flats. We went on a Tuesday morning to avoid traffic on the trail and it worked, we had the entire 20 mile ride to ourselves.

Packer Saddle This is the top, Packer Saddle. To start off follow Road #93 out of the parking lot. As you start, take it easy you are over 7,000' up and the air is a little thinner than you are probably used to.

Getting There To get to the trailhead for Pauley Creek you follow gravel roads along the ridge for quite a while before descending the 4WD trail which is the start of the fun. About the most interesting thing about this section was the awesome views.

Four Wheel Drive Trail After about 5 miles of gravel road you turn left down a steep 4 Wheel Drive trail. This section of the trail is almost all downhill and is extremely rocky. You are still above much of the terrain and the views from this portion of the trail are still quite phenominal.

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