Yuba

My brother and I followed the advice of Dan Menten and Carson Watts who had done this section earlier this year and said access was no longer than issue. Not sure if the signs were put up after their trip, but the north side of the lake has multiple No Trespassing signs. We were committed to the trip at that point so did a quick scurry down the hill with our packrafts (and didn't see anyone), but this remains an issue.

The run below the dam is pretty, and I'm glad we did it, but the old reports have it about right. There's only like a quarter to half mile of Class III and a drop at the bottom that has some snag potential. We skipped it because of fading light but it's totally doable, just best to set safety from river left. Beyond that it's Class I-II. We successfully found a Lyft for shuttle but we almost had to bike, and there's certainly some elevation on Highway 20 to consider if you do that.

All in all, it's probably a run only for those folks constantly seeking new sections of river to paddle like me, in a forever drought...

I was visiting family in the area and no other river had water. So I went for a solo descent. Getting dropped off at the boat ramp, I tried to hike up the stairs and scout, and was able to see my river access downstream. so I dawned my gear and paddled across the lake to the least steep part, close to the damn. I had to tie a strap to the boat and drag it up the hill as it was pretty steep. once I made it up there was a long uphill carry followed by what felt like a 3/4 of a mile downhill carry to get to a sidetrack that led to the river. putting in there were small rapids for a while until the class 2+ ones started, then after entering the narrows there's a class 4 called ground chuck. I scouted and ran everything, then after the narrows it becomes a 4 mile flatwater/class 1 paddle out to the bridge. worth running in the winter, but not my first choice.