Hoyt’s Crossing — Attraction in Nevada City

Yesterday, I saw a man drown here.

A full-grown, fit adult, around 2 pm, on a day with perfect conditions, and hundreds of other people around.

This place is beautiful and can be enjoyed safely. But before you take just one step toward the River, I beg, BEG you to consider:

the young boy, a child, who found this man’s body

the father who had to dive to the very bottom of the pool to pull this man out of the water

the people scrambling to the top, their shrieks for help ricocheting through the canyon

the countless strangers who, without a second thought, rushed across a treacherous current, to take turns doing chest compressions for nearly 30 minutes and breath air into a man who, in all likelihood, had already passed

the teenagers, heads lowered, who prayed over him

his friend, who had to say goodbye in front of a silent audience of onlookers

the numbered emergency workers who were faced with no other choice but to drag his stretchered body up the cliffside by a rope.

The grief created by a tragedy like this extends far beyond that of the people who knew this man, who loved him. It ripples into the world in ways I am unable to quantify. I will live with this experience for the rest of my life.

The River does not have a moral compass. It does not think of you. It does not think. It just moves along efficiently, on a path it has claimed for thousands of years. Not a single one of us are invincible, and in the end, we become, we are, responsible for the people around us.

This is what is at stake during your visit.

——

To the man who pulled him from the water, I wrote you a letter. If you would like to have it I would be so grateful to...

I was hoping to swim in the lagoons I remember but the river was flooded this year from all the rain. Someone told me they had released a dam from a lake somewhere up above and that was why there was the extra water too. Some girls at Hoyts appeared visibly uncomfortable with the naked people and they kept moving around to be away from it. I sort of forgot and walked by them naked and they again appeared visibly distraught. I think though if you are like that you shouldn’t go. I sunbathed naked on some rocks by the highway 49 bridge because there was others naked there too but I noticed crowds gathering looking and...

Map is not correct, cannot enter private land. See screenshot, go to South Yuba River Bridge and park. Cross the bridge and take high trail to actual Hoyt's Crossing. 15-20 minute walk depends on pace. Careful of narrow spots with long steep drops, NOT a child friendly path! Leads to a nude area of Hoyt's Crossing, both men & women enjoy sun bathing by the river. Simply beautiful ancient river bed with a fast, cold, crystal clear water flow. Enjoy, watch your step in and out. Wear shoes, it is a moderate hike. Google has since added the correct map, make sure it's the same as shown; South Yuba River Bridge...