The South Fork of the Yuba River near Nevada City (about 70 miles northeast of Sacramento) is a very scenic river notable for its huge boulders and abundance of natural swimming holes. Some spots along the river are customarily used for skinnydipping. One of the most popular sites for nude swimming and sunbathing is the stretch of the river around Hoyt Crossing, a river crossing site from the Gold Rush era. The bridge at Hoyt Crossing no longer exists. (For two other nudist locations that are close by, see the placemarks for Purdon Crossin and Edwards Crossing.)

The actual location of Hoyt Crossing is about 2/3 mile upstream from the Highway 49 bridge over the South Fork of the Yuba River, and there is a sign to let you know you have found it. That sign may have some type of graffiti indicating it is a nude area, and there are a couple of nice swimming holes in the immediate vicinity of the sign. Nudity also takes place in a number of swimming holes farther upstream from the sign. About 2/3 mile beyond the sign, the trail ends and access becomes more difficult, so that is about as far as most visitors venture. Nudity occurs with no apparent interference by authorities, but you should be sure to hike at least to the Hoyt Crossing sign before disrobing. Nudity close to the highway is inadvisable. Furthermore, the trails at this location are better maintained than they used to be, which means the area can be overrun with textiles. However, the area is large enough that you can just hike upstream from concentrations of textiles to find a place where you can comfortably be naked, or you can go one of the other nearby locations. By river miles, Purdon Crossing is about 3.3 miles upstream fro Hoyt Crossing, then Edwards Crossing is another 3.3 miles upstream from Purdon. However, it is 10 miles or more by car to drive from any one of these locations to another.

VISUAL RESOURCES

GPS: 39.3032N, 121.0800W

city, county, state, country  Nevada City, Nevada, California, U.S.A.

classification  2 (traditionally nude)

There are 12 placemarks related to these nearby sites: Hoyt Crossing, Purdon Crossing and Edwards Crossing.