Sprawling 500-mile route that could connect California’s 15 ‘lost’ mountain towns

California’s “lost” mountain towns are about to be found.

An ambitious 500-mile single-track trail is being pieced together, reaching from Northern California to Western Nevada, with plans to link 15 far-flung communities once fueled by the Gold Rush, logging, and mining.

The mammoth Lost Sierra Route would snake through some of the Golden State’s most dramatic and overlooked mountain country, creating a town-to-town adventure stretching from the Truckee-Tahoe area to the rural northeastern Lassen County.

The project, dubbed the Connected Communities initiative, is spearheaded by the non-profit Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship, and will give hikers, bikers and horseback riders an interconnected pathway through relic towns that time almost forgot.

The enclaves on the frontier include Jonesville, Chester, Westwood, Susanville, Greenville, Taylorsville, Quincy, Downieville, Portola, Graeagle, Sierra City, Sierraville, Loyalton, Truckee and Reno, Nevada. 

The project spans across six counties — and Plumas, Sierra, Lassen, Butte and Nevada counties in California and Washoe County in Nevada — and crosses four national forests.

Unlike remote wilderness corridors that require packing weeks of dehydrated rations, the Lost Sierra Route is deliberately designed so trekkers can tackle the single track by day and roll straight into a new town at night for a cold brew and a bed.

The initiative provides an economic boost to these provincial communities while creating “easier access to nature, healthier lifestyles and stronger local pride” simply by establishing trails that link towns — many of which are remnants of a very different California.

Downieville, which is tucked into a canyon where the Downie River meets the North Yuba River, exploded during the Gold Rush and saw an influx of people after gold nuggets were discovered in 1848.

At its peak, the town had a population of about 5,000 residents. Today, the pint-sized mountain town has about 200 year-round residents and is known more for its rugged surroundings and mountain biking.

Nearby, there’s the town of Graeagle, which was formerly a company-owned lumber town in Plumas County where the old mill economy has given way to a recreation driven identity surrounded by lakes, forests, and mountains.

While the larger Lost Sierra Route project remains a work in progress, the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship is already promoting existing routes.

The nonprofit has been digging trails in the Lost Sierra since 2003, and says it has already built more than 227 miles of new trail and maintained more than 3,000 miles.

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