tahoe national forest

Tahoe National Forest is a huge forest that is located in the Nothern Sierra Mountains. We have seen much of it. It starts just east of Sacramento, and continues through the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the Nevada Border.When one is in Tahoe, one is seeing the Tahoe National Forest. Downieville is only one of the areas. We also like Boca a lot - a lake/dam area just north of Lake Tahoe, close to Truckee.We have enjoyed going to people's homes where they have cut down their Christmas tree from the forest - note: permits are required.There is a large range of outdoor activities to do throughout the year. In the summer some of the activities include hiking, swimming, boating, picnics, fishing and so forth. In the winter, there is snow play including cross country skiing, sow shoeing, snow play, etc.Its a beautiful place to go and since it is so large, there is NO single destination point but a large variety of great places to go.We have visited much of the area.

The forestry roads are better on my truck than the local gravel paths. We were pleased when we turned off on one to go to the top of the mountain.

We went camping near Downieville at the California state camp sights. The location was great. There was a river right behind the camp sight. We found a great place to bring the dogs for swimming and enjoy the day. We brought a lunch and spent the day at the river. The camp sight we had was a double RV sight. There was not electricity and there was water right next to the sight! There also had restrooms to use. Great place for the Father Days weekend! The town was fun. We spent time enjoying the stores and different shops. Everybody we ran into was so friendly and was thankful for our visit to there locations (stores)

There are multiple great areas to stage a camping/hiking trip out of. The best ones are either in the Lakes Basin, above Sierra City, or the Grouse Ridge, off highway 20. Alpine lakes with beautiful granite settings, loads of trees, even some Aspens.

Sierraville is a fun place to visit, it has good fishing in the North fork of the Yuba river and a wonderful catch and release fishing zone. There are good hikes in the area and a couple of nice restaurants to enjoy.

You must see this, it is truly one of the most beautiful places on the planet.

No cell service and very few pay phones, so I worried about emergencies. Sardine lake was beautiful, Parker lake great for fishing.

Varied terrain and elevation, good campgrounds. Needs more staff for maintenance, heavy use.