location

Deer Creek,

the jewel at the heart

       of Nevada City,

begins as a trickle in the Sierra Nevada foothills, high above Scotts Flat Reservoir at 4000' elevation. A ribbon of nature, it winds its way through pine forests and alpine meadows, forging canyons and shaping the landscape on its journey downhill. As it rushes through downtown Nevada City, it hosts spawning rainbow and brown trout. Downstream, little known but beautiful, Deer Creek Falls hurries the water towards Lake Wildwood, where residents enjoy swimming and boating. Below the lake, pine forest gives way to willow and oak, and the creek teems with beaver, river otter, eagles and great blue herons. At 600' elevation and 34 miles from its source, Deer Creek joins the Yuba River, where it greets the native salmon spawn each fall.