Sierra Valley is a large mountain valley located east of the crest of California's Sierra Nevada mountain range in Plumas and Sierra Counties, north of Interstate 80.
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An intermontaine valley at approximately 4,850 feet (1,480 m) elevation, Sierra Valley is surrounded by mountains ranging in elevation from 6 to 8,000 feet (2,400 m). The huge valley, 120,000 acres (490 km2), is a down-faulted basin, formerly a lake bed of similar geologic origin to Lake Tahoe to the south, now filled with sediment up to two thousand feet thick. Average annual rainfall is less than twenty inches, most falling as snow. The valley floor has a grassland and sagebrush ecosystem and is the site of extensive freshwater marshes filled with cattails, bulrushes and alkaline flats that drain into the middle fork of the Feather River. Many species of wildlife make their permanent home in the valley, and a great number of migratory bird species stop over in the fall and nest in Sierra Valley in the spring. The Valley also has thermal activity. Marble Hot Springs is located in the north central valley floor.
Sierra Valley is an agricultural and livestock region. Tourism contributes to the local economy.
Entrance from the west is through Yuba Pass on State Route 49. Entrance from the east is through Beckwourth Pass, the lowest mountain pass in the Sierra Nevada. The valley is crossed by state State Route 89, State Route 70 and State Route 49, (the gold rush trail), which terminates at State Route 70 in Vinton where it then terminates at the Hallelujah Junction with U.S. Route 395 after passing through Chilcoot.
From the Plumas County website: Biking | Birding | Boating and Swimming | Cross Country Skiing | Fishing | Gold Panning | Golfing | Hiking | Horseback Riding | Riding | Hunting | Kids & Family | Mountain Biking | River Rafting | Road Biking | Skiing and Snowboarding | Snowmobiling | Snowplay | Snowshoeing | Wildlife Watching | Frenchman Lake
A Biological Baseline Study of Sierra Valley Marsh, California 1976. Dept. of Biology SFSU NSF SOS grant SMI-76-08071 This was a student originated study funded by the National Science Foundation to assess biological resources of this high-altitude freshwater marsh in Sierra Valley California.