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1950 Map of Onion Valley

Name: 1950 Topographic Map of Onion Valley
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1978
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1978

About this map

The Middle Fork Feather River carves through this portion of the northern Sierra Nevada, defining a landscape shaped by mid-century resource extraction and historic mining activity. Gold and mineral pursuits are evident in the numerous inactive workings scattered across the terrain, including the Five Bear Mine, Sugar Pine Mine, and the Feather Fork Mine located near the South Fork Feather River. These sites, along with the Williams and Dorf Mine, illustrate the tail end of a mining era that once sustained small mountain communities.

Evidence of earlier habitation is preserved in labels for the Onion Valley and Last Chance sites, suggesting settlements that had already transitioned to memories by the 1950s. The presence of the Feather River Experimental Forest and the Onion Valley Reservoir points to the evolving priorities of forest management and water storage within the Plumas National Forest. Remote outposts like Barkers Cabin and Sawmill Flat remain connected by rugged tracks such as the Cleghorn Bar Road.