Plumas-Eureka State Park
Plumas-Eureka State Park in the Lost Sierra offers several miles of groomed trails for cross-country skiing and several hundred acres for back-country skiing. The park also offers three designated groomed snowshoe trails. The trail system is managed by Plumas-Eureka State Park Association volunteers and trail maps are available at each trailhead.
Free trail access | The use of the trails is free, but donations are requested to maintain the trails for $5 per day or $20 for the season. Donations may be made through the Association at plumas-eureka.org.
Longboard Races | The Plumas Ski Club hosts the Historic Longboard Revival Races each year at the Johnsville Ski Bowl, located within the park. The races are open to everyone and always free and fun to watch. Contestants wear 1860s attire and race downhill on 9- to 16-foot wooden skis, many of which are handmade. | plumasskiclub.org
In the winter, heavy snows inspired miners to organize snowshoe races. The first race took place in Plumas County in 1861 — the first recorded ski competition in the western hemisphere. Snowshoes, or longboards, were 12-foot Norwegian-style skis that weighed as much as 20 pounds, according to park staff. Skiers had one long, large ski pole between their legs to use a brake. On the straight courses, racers reached speeds of more than 80 mph. Some historians think the tramways for the Plumas Eureka Mine may have been the world’s first ski lifts.
EVENTS
Jan. 15, Feb. 19 & March 19 | Longboard Revival Races
