I contacted the Yuba River Ranger District today to discuss the campsites, etc. Here's what I was told:
Fire Permits:
Fire permits are free, we just need to stop into the Forest Rangers office to get one. We should probably get as many as we can. This is also the only restriction we will have camping in the area we are planning to camp.
Camp Sites:
Due to the time of the year, we may not have access to the pit toilets, but I have been told that we can camp at any campground we can reach. We just need to have a fire permit in order to have a fire, and need to restrict our vehicles to within one vehicle length of the road (unless the camp site has in-camp parking).
I don't believe that any of the campsites we are looking at normally have fees associated with them. I believe it is only the "Improved" camp sites (IE: Paved) that have fees associated with them.
Trails:
In looking on the various forestry websites, I was a little concerned because I was still seeing campsites and trails listed as closed. After talking with the Yuba River Ranger Station, it appears we should be good to go.
I was told that the new federal standard is that all OHV trails must be listed on a Motor Vehicle Usage Map, which includes the locations of the trails and any seasonal restrictions. According to this ranger, the Tahoe National Forest (at least in the area we are going) have not finalized their MVUM maps yet, and are not enforcing them, thus we can have access to any trail we can get to given the following kaveats:
- We must stay within one vehicle length of the trail at all times.
- We must "Tread Lightly" and not damage any of the wildlife in the process of our OHV experience.
These are both givens, but I thought I would pass them along.
The ranger did indicate that she wasn't sure we would make it in very far, but I'm less worried about that.
One weird Nuance is that the main entrance to Gold Lake is actually in the Plumas National Forest jurisdiction. As soon as we get to the far side of the lake, we transition to the Tahoe forest. According to the MVUM from Plumas NF, the Gold Lake trail is open year round, so we should be good there.
The biggest thing we may have to figure out is where we will be camping. I am going to suggest that we shoot to try and get in just past Gold Lake into the Tahoe Forest side, but I'm open to suggestions (especially form you Job, since you have a better idea of what the conditions are there).
In any case, that's the information I have found so far.
I plan to stop at the Yuba River Ranger Station on Friday on our way up (which is right off of Highway 49 on our way up). That way we can all get our own fire permits to ensure we are covered. That will allow us to ask any additional questions we may have as well.
