Yuba County Highpoint Trip Report

Date: August 29, 2014
Author: David Sanger

According to locals the bridge on the "new" Scales Road which was washed out in 2007 and 2010 has been abandoned and will not be rebuilt. However the bridge on the "old" Scales Road a few miles upstream has been rebuilt and is now readily passable.

To reach the rebuilt bridge, if coming up from Marysville, go past the Strawberry Valley Fires Station until just before a steep hill, where you see a large sign on the left for the Strawberry Valley Campground and Sly Creek. Directly opposite this on the right is a large dirt turnout. A red dirt road goes off to the right at the dirt turnout and parallels the La Porte Road for fifty yards or so, up to a second entrance to it from the paved road. There you'll find a new green signpost saying "La Porte Road" and "Scales Road" but it is likely not visible coming from the south.

Zero your odometer at the dirt road's start.

GPS tracking shows that the dirt road follows the road identified on the topo map as 20N63 exactly from the 4020 mark next to the abandoned town of North Star, but there is nothing at the location to indicate any of that.

The road veers right, away from the La Porte Quincy road and then heads downhill into the canyon. At the canyon bottom is a new girder bridge across Slate Creek with wooden planks. You can still see the "old" old bridge's cement pilings. The road then steeply ascends the canyon's east side.

At about 4.1 miles there is a 4-way junction where you go straight. At about 5.5 miles there is a brown forest service sign 20N63A and also an arrow to a road to the right marked F35. Again go straight. At about 6.4 miles you will come to the five way junction described in other trip reports. Moving clockwise the five roads are:

1. The road you came in on, marked outbound with a white sign saying "F3"
    (and also a sign saying keep right, logging trucks on the road).

2. A less-traveled dirt road heading left and downhill marked 21N11F with a
    brown Forest Service sign (the letter "F" is indistinct).

3. The road straight ahead, heavily traveled, white gravel marked with a
    white "F4" arrow - this is the road you continue on.

4. A dirt road to the right uphill, marked as "F46".

5) Another well-traveled road coming in from the right almost parallel to
    the road you are on, and marked with an "F4" arrow.

Following on you get to the well-signed right hand uphill turnoff to white gravel road 21N68Y described in other reports. There was a small bump a few yards farther but it was easily passable with a Subaru Forester. At the road's top where the gravel ends is a wide turnout for parking. The dirt berm is gone and with 4WD you can easily continue up and to the right all the way to the hill's crest (and the county line).

I parked at the turnout, walked up the old logging road veering left uphill, which now has several trees fallen across it. At the top there is a stump with many loose sticks leaning against it which seems to mark a point which is, or is close to, the Yuba County highpoint.

After a half hour stomping around every possible highpoint and checking the county boundary with GPS I couldn't find the triple tree or the cement block or any register.

When I was there, August 2014, logging was in progress and there were several warning signs on the roads. Also a local advised me to be cautious. There are quite a few turnouts along the road, but it is obviously heavily traveled. I beeped my horn at every blind corner and crest, and kept my window open so I could see and hear any possible oncoming truck. Also I made note of every turnout as I passed them so that I would know how far I'd need to back up if I met a truck. For most of the road there are plenty of turnouts; the longest narrow stretch with no room to pass is heading uphill after the bridge. Luckily I didn't meet any logging trucks, only one pickup truck.

Before I left I had called the General Store in La Porte and the woman there had told me that it was possible to reach Scales Road from La Porte from northeast, via Port Wine and Queen City, along Port Wine Ridge past Poverty Hill. That's a much longer route. It had been my plan until I stopped at the Pike County Peak Lookout Tower near Challenge and spoke with the ranger/resident who told me about the new "Old Scales Road" access.

Pike County Peak has a significant 585 feet of prominence, a mile or so south of the La Porte Quincy road near Challenge and an easy drive-up with marvelous views of the whole area.