Not For Soccer!: August 4, 2007: Sierra Buttes Trail

Since our first trip was something less than what we'd hoped, we decided to look for a trail that was a little more clearly marked and invited some friends to join us. Mike and his son Alexander drove up the night before with Doug and camped near the trailhead in Downieville. We caravaned up the following morning with Marshan, Lalani and his dog Lola. The drive to Sierra City was a little long (about 2.5 hours from Roseville) but the boys entertained themselves watching Transformers and Shrek movies while simultaneously covering themselves an the inerior of the truck in juice and beef jerky. We met up with Mike, Doug and Alexander around 11:30AM and made our way to the trailhead a few of miles outside of town. At the trailhead, we let the boys (and Lola) get out and stretch their legs while we discussed the trail and made last-minute adjustments to our gear.

We hit the trail by noon with Doug's Jeep Grand Cherokee in the lead, followed by Marshan's Toyota Tacoma and our Land Rover LR3 bringing up the rear.

The trail starts out easy enough - it's a fairly well maintained gravel road that leads up a series of irregular switchbacks.

The road quickly narrows and we began our ascent up a winding, rutted mess of an OHV trail. The shelf road gets VERY narrow in places and is covered in moderately loose soil and baseball-sized rocks that can make traction difficult. Throw in a nice mix of 9"+ embedded rock formations and you have the makings of an exciting climb! As we gained elevation, the views from the road are breathtaking - so much so that Sarenna asked that I PLEASE look out the widshield and not admire the view until we've stopped! Oops!

We found the turnoff for the spur trail that leads to Sierra Buttes Tower - an unmanned fire watch tower - and decided this would be a good place to stop for lunch.

The spur trail is short (about 1.2 miles) but severely rutted with very loose soil and some steep climbs over embedded rocks. It's also pretty narrow and winds through the trees. At the top of the spur we pulled into the 'parking lot', a small clearing wide enough for a half-dozen trucks. While the kids snacked and played, we debated whether to climb the rough, steep trail that leads to the base of the tower. In the end, Marshan, Lalani (in sandals!) and Lola led the way up and we climbed, crawled and clawed our way up the hill to the tower. Once there, we had to climb four sets of precarious stairs bolted to the exposed granite face of the mountain in order to get to the tower itself. Marshan and Lalani helped me get the boys up the stairs and onto the tower - the view was incredible!!!

The wind was also incredible and it didn't take long for the boys to decide they'd had enough and we headed back down to the trucks.

The descent down the spur was no less exciting than the ascent, but it passed relatively quickly. By the time we started heading back down the main trail, it was almost 5PM so we pushed on until reaching FR-93 which leads back to the highway. FR-93 starts off as a paved road (which feels strange to be driving on again!) but it eventually alternates between gravel and hard-packed dirt trails which lead down the mountain. Once back to Hwy. 49, we gassed up in Downieville and headed back to civilization. The only casualties were a minor overheat on Doug's Jeep going up the spur trail, some pinstriping on my LR3 and Marshan lost the bolt-on exhaust tip from his Tacoma.

Directions:

I-80E to Hwy. 49N
Hwy. 49N to Sierra City
Turn left on Butte St. and left again on Sierra Buttes Rd.
The trailhead is on the right by the entrance to the transfer station.
At the intersection with Columbo Mine Rd. and Sierra Buttes Rd., turn right up the hill onto Butcher Ranch Rd.
Return trip is a left turn onto FR-93 which intersects Hwy. 49.

Trail Notes:

The main trail is a shelf road that that is acceptably wide with a slightly loose surface. There are some small embedded rock obstacles and it is slightly rutted. High-clearance 2WD or 4Hi is fine along this section. A couple miles up, the main trail narrows considerably and the surface becomes moderately loose which can make traction difficult. There are embedded boulders and rock obstacles in excess of 6" and the trail is moderately rutted. High-clearance 4Hi recommended here!

Once past the spur, the main trail becomes less rutted and is very similar to the first few miles with only a few patches of rock to negotiate.

The spur trail leading to the watch tower is severely rutted and steep with a loose surface that requires 4Lo to ascend. The ruts alternate from right to left so it is very important to pick a good line before attempting to cross as it would be fairly easy to high-center a vehicle in them. The trail narrows as it winds through the trees and also slightly brushy with substantial embedded boulders and rock obstacles to negotiate.

The hiking trail to Sierra Buttes Tower is approximately 1.5 miles of steep and rocky switchbacks. Plan on 45 minutes at a leisurely pace to ascend, 30 minutes to descend.

It is very high up (8500+ feet) so it's easy to get winded on the hike. The trail is not open to OHV's, but you'll probably see a few anyway, so be alert and ready to move out of the way. The summit is very windy and can get chilly so it's a good idea to bring a sweatshirt or windbreaker.

There are no facilities and no local water souces along either the OHV or hiking trails. We crossed two very small muddy streams that ran across the main trail, but they are less than a few inches deep and a foot wide.

Video from inside Marshan's Tacoma as he follows Doug up the trail...