Downieville is located in the heart of what has been called The Lost Sierra. Here is your chance to discover for yourself a place rich in history and natural beauty. Whether you are in need of a night's lodging or a vacation rental in the Sierra Mountains, you'll find the Riverside Inn meets your needs. Highway 49 hugs the Yuba River making the drive pass too quickly. The longer you are able to stay the harder it will be to leave us. Snowshoe around the Sierra Buttes or find a private swimming hole, Downieville is a true resort town. A trip to the Mother Lode isn't complete until you've visited the Northern Mines.
Couples visit us and decide to return for their wedding. Simplicity and our friendliness provide the perfect atmosphere for any special time. Contact us and we'll be glad to share our knowledge. A church retreat, mother son/father daughter vacation, back country skiing, dirt bikes and road bikes are a must if you have one. The highway is lightly used and very scenic. PAY ATTENTION to the sharp turn warnings! Entering Sierra County from the west you will descend Depot Hill to the Yuba River. The first couple of turns eat bikes! There are also potential problems leaving the Sierra Valley climbing to the Yuba Pass. Someone put out for a couple of nice signs. Show your appreciation and keep the shiny side up! Off road can be just as fun. Look forward to a "it hurt so good" mountain bike epic week. Whatever it takes to escape your everyday world, life is good when you're in Downieville!
Come to Downieville and see the history of the Mother Lode. The Riverside Inn is located on part of the area known as Tin Cup Diggin's and is within yards of where the nugget was found in 1977 that caused the "no gas Powered dredges" ordinance in town. As they say, "gold is where you find it." The lucky man was preparing to prospect the river when he kicked a nice lump of gold with his toe. This was very near the spot that 125 years earlier Major William Downie and his company of miners made camp at "the Forks." "They camped for a while on Jersey Flat and during this stay Jim Crow killed a salmon trout that weighed 12 to 14 pounds. After cooking the fish in a kettle, gold was found in the kettle." (Downieville by James J. Sinnott) Other finds on Jersey Flat include 11 pounds at the home of Dr. Aikin in 1852 and the Jersey Company (known as "the Company") took out "$20,000 this season" of 1854. Later, the Riverside Inn was built on Jersey Flat at "the Forks" of the Yuba River in Downieville, California.
When it was over the miners, shop keepers, tavern owners, and lawyers moved on, Many of them left the Mother Lode taking the Henness Pass to reach the new diggin's at Johntown and later Virginia City.
