Wildlife abounds
Despite water fluctuations and related damage, Sycamore Ranch and Hammon Grove are mostly open for recreational users.
The two popular Yuba County parks – both off of Highway 20 just south of Browns Valley – are open, thanks to cleanup and repair efforts by county officials.
“We’re getting a good amount of water coming up then going down again, and we had to close for a while, but we’re back open,” said Mike Bailey, Public Works superintendent with the county. “The day use area at Sycamore Ranch is still closed because it floods first.”
Bailey said when New Bullards Bar Dam releases water down the Yuba River, officials have to put the campground users on notice that they may have to leave on short notice as the water comes up.
“Our goal was to get the bathrooms opened by Easter, and we did it,” Bailey said. “We’re getting it back together.”
In addition to the campground, Bailey said the Sycamore Ranch bathrooms were inundated before crews cleaned them out and made improvements in anticipation of another high-water event.
“We have plans to build a second bathroom on higher ground at the campsite area,” Bailey said. “We don’t want to develop it too much, so that it keeps the rustic feel.”
He said there was debris pushed downstream from water flow littering the campground and day use areas, including a downed tree, which was cleaned up.
After the county pur- chased the park, it improved the campground and day use area with benches and other amenities. More improvements are coming.
A digital kiosk is planned where campers can pay for sites using a credit card and a Caltrans project will realign and widen the road near the park’s entrance to improve safety.
“In the future, we’re looking at adding more campsites,” Bailey said. “The whole idea is to give people access to the river.”
He said a floating bridge that connects Sycamore Ranch’s campground area to neighboring Hammon Grove will be put in place when the water level stabilizes and a new trail is planned as well.
“We’ll have a trail going along the creek in Hammon Grove, so people don’t have to walk up the hill,” Bailey said. “We’re getting a lot of requests for people wanting to use both parks as a music venue, so having the parks connected will really help.”
Because Hammon Grove is on higher ground, he said they didn’t have to do much work to tidy up things after the water damage, aside from trimming some poison oak.
He said the Kulu Village in Sycamore Ranch, leased to the Tsi-Akim Maidu tribe, is also slated to get bathrooms.
Bailey makes an official check on the park about once a week and unofficially his family holds an annual reunion at the park.
“We’ve been doing it for about 14 years, and we started at Camp Far West, but we’ve been coming here for the past five years,” Bailey said. “We get about 100 family members out here for a reunion – some people bring RVs and some camp out in tents.”
“We usually do it for Easter, but this year, the weather didn’t cooperate,” Bailey said. “We have an egg hunt, pot luck and barbecue – it’s great for the kids.”