New Bullards Bar Reservoir, Reservoir in Yuba County, United States

New Bullards Bar Reservoir is a large water storage lake in Yuba County surrounded by forest. The shoreline stretches for miles with boat access points and recreational areas along the water.

New Bullards Bar Dam, a 635-foot concrete variable-radius arch dam on the North Yuba River, was finished in 1970 and is owned by the Yuba Water Agency, based in Marysville. Its main purpose is flood control, with 170,000 acre-feet of the 969,600 acre-foot reservoir reserved for that. The reservoir also inundated Foster Bar, a former Yuba County settlement.

The reservoir's name comes from the old mining settlement of Foster Bar, also called Foster's Bar, which was flooded when the lake filled. Water Ski Magazine has rated Bullards Bar among the best recreational lakes in the United States. The lake hosts boat launches, houseboat rentals and about 19 miles of hiking and biking trails on the east side.

Two free launch ramps serve boaters: Cottage Creek stays usable until the reservoir drops below 1,822 feet, Dark Day until it falls below 1,798 feet. Emerald Cove Marina has a general store, gasoline, moorage and boat rentals. About 19 miles of hiking and biking trails lie mainly on the east side, kept up by the Yuba Ranger District and Bicyclists of Nevada County.

Water from the lake flows through a large underground tunnel to power generation facilities downstream. This hidden waterway is an engineering feat that carries flow beneath the mountain terrain.