D E E R
C R E E K
T R A I L S
SPANNING CENTURIES – A TRAIL
COMMEMORATING THE ORIGINAL
PEOPLE OF DEER CREEK By Hank Meals
Getting There: While there are several ways to access the trail, this is the
PHOTOS BY HANK MEALS
simplest. Begin at the Nevada Theatre on Broad Street in Nevada City and walk down Bridge
Street past the KVMR building and the west side of Miners Foundry. Turn right on Factory
Street before you get to the end of the foundry. Do not continue down Bridge Street.
Continue west on Factory Street, which becomes Wyoming Road, and then passes through a
residential area to the old Downieville Highway. When the road forks, bear left on Champion
Mine Road and the clearly marked trail. Signs with the Tribute Trail logo will direct you along
the trail switchbacks to the bridge over Deer Creek.
Within the last few years Nevada City has transformed the slopes
of Deer Creek into a scenic system of trails. The latest trail connects
Deer Creek Environs Trail on the south side of the creek with the
Tribute Trail on its north side.
A beautiful, sturdy 149-foot suspension bridge was built to span
Deer Creek. The bridge is only a 20-minute walk from downtown,
and the trail is suitable for a wide range of ages and abilities. As you
near the creek, you will pass trailside flourishes that include stacked
rock retaining walls and sculpted depictions of water.
For some, the walk to the bridge and back is enough, but there is
also a loop option. After crossing the bridge to the south side of the
canyon, follow the trail upslope for a bit until it offers an upstream
or downstream option. Take the (left) upstream trail which will
eventually put you on the berm of the Rough & Ready ditch built
in 1850.
After a short hike, you will find yourself in a charming residential
neighborhood with street names like Jordan, Gethsemane, Cross and
Zion – that’s why it is called Piety Hill. Keep following the small
brown “Tribute Trail” signs that lead to a lane called “Tribulation
Trail” at the end of which is the Pine Street Bridge leading to Broad
Street and the center of town. The loop is less than three miles.
Prior to 1849 there was an important Indian settlement where
Nevada City now stands. The Nisenan people were here for thousands of years before gold was discovered on Deer Creek. Here Little
Deer Creek, Gold Run and several smaller tributaries of Deer Creek
are separated by broad flat ridges in a rich ecosystem dominated by
black oak, ponderosa pine, incense cedar, Douglas fir and live oak –
an ideal place to live for the indigenous people.
This trail was built as a tribute to the Nisenan people who know
Deer Creek as Angkula Seo. There are interpretive signs installed
along the trail to provide more information about their culture.
When placer gold was discovered on the banks of Deer Creek all
the stream banks were dug up and trees harvested for sluices, structures and firewood. This is evident in photos from the 1850s and
60s. There was increased interest in mining again in the 1890s when
new processes were discovered, and Deer Creek was further devastated. Mining made Deer Creek an ecological disaster.
RECREATION
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In the 1960s, Deer Creek was logged again. When the vegetation
returned, it was a tangled mess of highly volatile fuels. In the 1980s,
the City of Ne