A log flume or lumber flume is a watertight flume constructed to transport lumber and logs down mountainous terrain using flowing water. Flumes replaced horse- or oxen-drawn carriages on dangerous mountain trails in the late 19th century. Logging operations preferred flumes whenever a reliable source of water was available. Flumes were cheaper to build and operate than logging railroads. They could span long distances across chasms with more lightweight trestles.
Hume Lake is a reservoir in the Sierra Nevada, within Sequoia National Forest and Fresno County, central California.
John Samuel Eastwood was an American engineer who built the world's first reinforced concrete multiple-arch dam on bedrock foundation at Hume Lake, California, in 1908, and was one of California's pioneers of hydroelectric power production. Eastwood's papers are held at the Water Resources Collections and Archives, University of California, Riverside.
Bass Lake, situated in Madera County, California, within the Sierra National Forest and approximately 14 mi (23 km) south of Yosemite National Park, is a popular recreational area. The lake, formed by the Crane Valley Dam on Willow Creek, a tributary to the San Joaquin River, spans about four miles (6.4 km) in length and one-half mile (0.80 km) in width. Constructed in 1910 by Pacific Gas and Electric, the 145 ft (44 m) concrete gravity dam generates hydro-electric power through controlled releases. The lake supports a diverse ecosystem, including species such as black bears, mule deer, bald eagles, and Great blue herons, along with a variety of fish species.
Big Creek is a small census-designated place in Fresno County, California, located in the Sierra Nevada on the north bank of Big Creek. It lies at an elevation of 4,984 feet (1,519 m) above sea level. Its last population count was 175. The ZIP code is 93605, and the community is inside area code 559.
Big Creek is a 19.3-mile-long (31.1 km) tributary of the San Joaquin River in the Sierra Nevada, within the Sierra National Forest, central California.
Huntington Lake is a reservoir in Fresno County, California on Big Creek, located in the Sierra Nevada at an elevation of 6,955 feet (2,120 m). The lake receives water from Southern California Edison's Big Creek Hydroelectric Project, as well as the many streams that flow into the lake. Some water leaving the lake flows to Big Creek, while some is diverted to nearby Shaver Lake. The lake is home to a variety of recreational activities, including camping, horse-back riding, skiing, sailing, fishing and more. It is drained and refilled through the Big Creek dam system each year, with winter water levels often dipping below 50 percent of the lake's capacity.
Pine Flat Lake is an artificial lake or reservoir in the Sierra Nevada foothills of eastern Fresno County, California on the western north-south border to the Sierra- and Sequoia National Forests, about 30 mi (48 km) east of Fresno. The lake is managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and is open to boaters, campers & hikers.
Mammoth Pool Reservoir is a reservoir on the San Joaquin River in the Sierra Nevada, within the Sierra National Forest in California. It creates the border between Fresno County and Madera County. It is about 45 miles (72 km) north-northeast of Fresno.
The Shaver Lake Railroad was a standard gauge logging railroad that operated in the Sierra Nevada of Fresno County, California. The line was abandoned in 1927.
The San Joaquin & Eastern Railroad (SJ&E) was a standard gauge common carrier railroad that operated in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Fresno County in the U.S. state of California. The line was abandoned in 1933. The railroad hauled primarily lumber and agricultural products.
Trout Creek is a small tributary of the Truckee River draining about 5.1 square miles (13 km2) along the eastern crest of the Sierra Nevada. It originates east of Donner Ridge and north of Donner Lake in the Tahoe–Donner Golf Course and flows through the town of Truckee, California, to its confluence with the Truckee River in Nevada County, California, just west of Highway 267.
The Big Creek Hydroelectric Project is an extensive hydroelectric power scheme on the upper San Joaquin River system, in the Sierra Nevada of central California. The project is owned and operated by Southern California Edison (SCE). The use and reuse of the waters of the San Joaquin River, its South Fork, and the namesake of the project, Big Creek – over a vertical drop of 6,200 ft (1,900 m) – have over the years inspired a nickname, "The Hardest Working Water in the World".
Wishon Dam is a dam in Fresno County, California in the Sierra National Forest, in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. It impounds the North Fork Kings River to form Wishon Reservoir.
Redinger Dam is a dam in Fresno County, California.
Lake Thomas A Edison is a reservoir in the Sierra National Forest and in Fresno County, California. It is in the Sierra Nevada, and near the Pacific Crest Trail.
The Hume-Bennett Lumber Company was a logging operation in the Sequoia National Forest in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The company and its predecessors were known for building the world's longest log flume and the first multiple-arch hydroelectric dam. However, the company also engaged in destructive clearcutting logging practices, cutting down 8,000 giant sequoias in Converse Basin in a decade-long event that has been described as "the greatest orgy of destructive lumbering in the history of the world."
The Sugar Pine Lumber Company was an early 20th century logging operation and railroad in the Sierra Nevada. Unable to secure water rights to build a log flume, the company operated the “crookedest railroad ever built." They later developed the Minarets-type locomotive, the largest and most powerful saddle tank locomotive ever made. The company was also a pioneer in the electrification of logging where newly plentiful hydroelectric power replaced the widespread use of steam engines.
The Fresno Flume and Irrigation Company was established in 1891 as a logging and water transportation company in California. A 45-mile cedar flume was built to transport lumber from Shaver Lake to the finishing mill in Clovis. The company changed its name to the Fresno Flume and Lumber Company in 1908, and over the course of its 21-year lifespan, cut an average of 25 million board feet of lumber each year. However, in 1912, the company was sold and ceased all operations after a storm destroyed 2 miles (3.2 km) of the flume. In 1919, Southern California Edison Company bought most of the Shaver property for the Big Creek Hydroelectric Project.
The following is a timeline of the history of the Sierra National Forest in Central California, United States.
