Nevada City owns three trails that Bear Yuba Land Trust helps keep open to the public: Hirschman Trail, the Deer Creek Tribute Trail and Sugarloaf Trail. Sugarloaf is the newest of the three. It has the view straight down onto the historic downtown, and it's the only one you can't yet reach on foot from Broad Street. The new section starts from a parking lot about half a mile up Coyote Street. The planned route up from town still needs roughly 200 feet of construction next to the stoplight at North Bloomfield Road.
When that piece is built, all three city trails will connect to town on foot. Until then, Sugarloaf is a short drive followed by a short climb.
Two of the three already start where you park for coffee
The Deer Creek Tribute Trail is the one most tied to downtown. Bear Yuba Land Trust describes the whole system as 7.9 miles of routes that link roads, sidewalks and trails, with two rural footbridges called the Angkula Seo Bridge and the Chinese Bridge. The Historic Downtown section runs 2 miles from a trailhead on Nimrod Street, across from the Pioneer Park tennis courts. It follows Little Deer Creek to the bottom of Broad Street, then continues on city sidewalk to the Jordan Street and Miners Foundry trailheads.
To reach the Nisenan Bridge section without your car, the land trust gives this route:
- Start at the corner of Broad and Pine streets.
- Cross the Pine Street bridge.
- Pick up Tribulation Trail.
- Follow Jordan Street to the trailhead.
From there, the Jordan Street loop runs 1.5 miles. Along the ditch trail, four interpretive signs tell the history of the Nisenan.
Hirschman Trail sits a little farther out, about a mile from downtown according to Bear Yuba Land Trust. Its Cement Hill Trailhead is at 115 Cement Hill Road, and the land trust also lists trailheads at Indian Flat and Woods Ravine. The trail runs 2.4 miles one way on a natural-earth surface. Hirschman's Pond is its centerpiece, and the eastern 0.4 mile is built to ADA standards, with a 40-foot trestle along that stretch. Hikers and mountain bikers share it, and dogs must stay on leash.
The three city trails, side by side
| Trail | Where the walk starts | Distance | Standout feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deer Creek Tribute, Historic Downtown section | Nimrod Street, across from Pioneer Park tennis courts | 2 miles | Follows Little Deer Creek to the bottom of Broad Street |
| Deer Creek Tribute, Nisenan Bridge section | Jordan Street trailhead, reachable on foot from Broad and Pine | 1.5-mile loop | Four Nisenan history signs |
| Hirschman Trail | Cement Hill Trailhead, 115 Cement Hill Road | 2.4 miles one way | Hirschman's Pond and an ADA-standard eastern 0.4 mile |
| Sugarloaf Trail, new section | New lot about half a mile up Coyote Street | 0.70 mile to the summit | Summit views over downtown Nevada City |
Sugarloaf is the shortest climb on the list. Bear Yuba Land Trust puts it at 0.70 mile from the new Coyote Street lot to the summit, with about 220 feet of elevation change. Its trailhead is also the only one on the list that can't yet be reached on foot from the downtown core.
What the climb from Coyote Street gives you
The new section opened before the downtown connection was finished. In a May 2026 update on YubaNet, the project described the route from the Coyote Street lot as two options: "a meandering climb through the manzanita forests to the summit or a scenic downhill adventure through the forested switchbacks designed to keep the trail enjoyable and manageable for a wide range of users." The same update described views from the summit over the forests and historic downtown Nevada City.
In July, Nevada County ran a Park and Recreation Month roundup that confirmed the new section was open from the Coyote Street lot to the top of Sugarloaf. In that piece, Dawn Zydonis, the city's Parks and Recreation Manager, said, "You can be in town and enjoy all the things that town has to offer and then you can take a short walk and be in nature."
Hirschman and Deer Creek already work that way. Sugarloaf will too once the last segment is built. Today, the short walk to Sugarloaf starts with a short drive.
Why 200 feet takes longer than the rest of the trail
The original design was a downtown trail. When construction began, The Union described the project as a route of about one mile from downtown Nevada City to the Sugarloaf summit. It would start at Highway 49 and North Bloomfield Road and end at the existing gravel access road off upper Coyote Street.
The bottom end is the hard part. According to the May update, the last segment, roughly 200 feet, connects the trail to the stoplight at North Bloomfield Road, and that work falls inside the Caltrans right-of-way. Before any construction can start there, the city needs a Caltrans encroachment permit. The update said the permit process had been "much longer and slower than anyone anticipated," because several agencies are involved and projects in state highway corridors require extensive review.
At that point, the city called the downtown connection "a top priority" that would create a continuous route from downtown to Sugarloaf. The county's July roundup said trail crews were working on the connecting route, so people could walk up from downtown the way they can on Hirschman and Deer Creek.
A trail built in pieces, the same way the land was bought
The trail has come together in stages, and so did the land under it. The city's Sugarloaf Mountain Master Plan, adopted February 10, 2016, explains that Nevada City bought its 36-acre Sugarloaf parcel in January 2011. The money came from several places: California Proposition 40 funds, Nevada County AB1600 funds, a Bear Yuba Land Trust loan held until county funds arrived, and support from Friends of Sugarloaf.
Building the trail followed the same pattern. The Union reported that two Recreational Trails grants totaled $237,339, with separate construction contracts for different segments, including Sierra Engineers and the Truckee Trails Foundation. The city's FY 2025–26 budget listed the Sugarloaf Trail project at $248,864 in its capital plan and reported that the trail and parking project had been bid, awarded and started with Recreational Trails Program grant money.
Those grants are for building the trail. Keeping the city's parks and trails running comes from the General Fund, according to the county's July roundup. It also points out that most people who use Pioneer Park, the city pool and the city trails live outside city limits. The city's Parks and Recreation Department is a lean operation, too. In the same piece, Zydonis is described as the department's only year-round staff member.
The longer-range plan goes beyond the stoplight connection. The 2016 master plan names possible future links from Sugarloaf to Hirschman Trail, Tobiassen Park and the NID ditch trails, plus a conceptual county trail toward Pioneer Trail. The downtown link is the one trail crews were working on as of the county's July roundup, and it's the one waiting on the 200 feet.
Before you head up Coyote Street
A few practical points for a November climb:
- Rules: Bear Yuba Land Trust lists Sugarloaf as day use only, with dogs on leash and no motorized vehicles. Smoking, fires, camping, alcohol and firearms are also prohibited. The signs at the trailhead are the final word.
- Signs: In May, the city said trail signs showing distances to key destinations were on the way. Know your route before you go rather than counting on markers at every junction.
- Bikes: In the same update, bike-friendly improvements to some of the switchbacks were still under evaluation.
- Time: If you're trying to beat the early November sunset, the 0.70-mile climb from the Coyote Street lot is the shortest of the three city routes.
If you want to walk from your front door, Hirschman and Deer Creek already let you do that. Sugarloaf needs the car for now, at least until the last 200 feet by the North Bloomfield Road stoplight is built.
Whether you can walk to a trailhead or have to drive to one is easy to miss on a listing sheet and easy to notice once you live there. If you're weighing two Nevada City houses and want a plain read on where each one sits relative to Coyote Street, Cement Hill Road or the Pioneer Park end of Deer Creek, talk to Bill first at William Segers.
