Every January I make the same promise about getting outside more, and every January a wet week quietly ends it. So this is less a trail list than a note to myself: which walks around here are genuinely better in the cold months, and which ones turn into a mud bath the day after a storm.
Winter is one of the best times of year to walk here, mostly because almost nobody else is out. The hillsides stay green until about April and then they are gone until next year. The catch is water. After a wet stretch, some of these trails are flooded and some are closed, so check before you load the car.
WHY THE VALLEY IS WALKABLE IN JANUARY AND THE FOOTHILLS ARE COMPLICATED
Elevation is the whole story. Higher ground can be under snow while the valley is having a mild, walkable week, which is why the trails around Auburn show up on a winter list at all. They sit below the snowline. Anything above that is a different sport until spring.
THE RIVER TRAILS, FROM OLD SACRAMENTO EAST TO FOLSOM
The Riverfront Promenade is the easy one. It links Old Sacramento to the Sacramento River Bike Trail, and the view of the Tower Bridge from underneath is the best free thing downtown. Across the water, the River Walk Trail in West Sacramento runs along the top of the levee from I-80 to the I Street Bridge, with the skyline on the far bank. River Walk Park sits at one end and Drake’s at the Barn at the other.
The American River Parkway runs from Old Sacramento to Folsom, and which section you pick matters more than the trail itself. Near the Guy West Bridge you get the river from the bridge. Near the Sunrise Recreation Area you look up at the Fair Oaks bluffs. Farther east the trail passes Lake Natoma, and below the Nimbus Fish Hatchery you can watch salmon working upstream. In winter that last stretch is the reason to go.
THE WETLAND WALKS, WHICH ARE BETTER NOW THAN THEY ARE IN JULY
Stone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Elk Grove is miles of trail around protected wetlands, and winter is when it earns the trip. Birds come down from as far away as Alaska to roost here, so cranes, sandpipers, plovers, geese and ducks are all on the table. The refuge runs free tours into spring.
Cosumnes River Preserve near Galt covers more than 50,000 acres, with trails that change with the season and raised boardwalks that keep your feet dry. It supports around 250 species of birds, and the guided sandhill crane walks are the thing people plan around.
The Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge is farther out, about 70 miles north near Willows, with more than 250 species of birds, an auto tour and a visitor center. Parts of it close when the water comes up, so check before you make that drive.
THE ONES WHERE YOU ACTUALLY GAIN SOME ELEVATION
Auburn State Recreation Area has more than 100 miles of pathways along the American River and is the most popular hiking area in the region. Difficulty varies a lot, which is a polite way of saying the Quarry Trail and Calcutta Falls are the kid-friendly end and Training Hill and Cardiac Hill are named honestly.
Hidden Falls Regional Park has more than 30 miles of trail through open grassland and up rugged hillsides, with observation decks over two waterfalls and long views out to the Sutter Buttes. This is the one I would give a full afternoon.
The El Dorado Trail runs more than 12 miles from Diamond Springs through Placerville to Camino, with plenty of access points. The scenery goes from open countryside to forested mountains. Best done point to point with a car at each end.
THE SHORT ONES THAT ARE REALLY NEIGHBORHOOD WALKS
Ancil Hoffman Park in Carmichael sits along the American River with a woodland trail system and the Effie Yeaw Nature Center attached, including interpretive trails built for kids. If you are walking with a five year old, start here.
Miners Ravine Trail runs from downtown Roseville to Sierra College Boulevard, past open fields, creekside oak groves and Native American grinding stones. It is more than eight miles long, and you can do as little or as much as you like.
In Davis, the U.C. Davis Arboretum is three loops along Putah Creek, showing plants from habitats around the world. The Putah Creek Riparian Reserve is the quieter one: 640 acres where turtles, beavers and deer turn up, and really a birding walk rather than a hike.
WHAT I CHECK BEFORE I DRIVE ANYWHERE
Every item on this list has ruined a walk for me at least once.
- Water. Trails at the Cosumnes preserve change with the season, and parts of the Sacramento refuge close when the water rises. A trail open on Tuesday can be shut on Saturday.
- Daylight. January light goes early. Pick a walk you can finish before dark.
- Mud. The trail that is lovely in June is a shoe-ruiner in January. Wear the boots you do not care about.
- Distance. The refuge near Willows is 70 miles north. That is a day, not an errand.
- Birds. This is the season for it, and something to look through helps more than good intentions.
Crowds are not the problem in winter, which is the entire argument for going now.
THE COMPARISON I REACH FOR, AND WHERE IT STOPS WORKING
The closest ordinary thing I can think of is a recipe’s cooking time.
That gets you to the right instinct, because both numbers are true and both are close to useless on their own. A recipe tells you what happens in a kitchen where nothing goes wrong. A trail sign tells you the mileage on a day when the creek is where it belongs.
Where it stops working is the interesting part. A recipe at least assumes somebody is watching the pan. A trail sign assumes nothing at all. It does not know that parts of the refuge close when the water comes up, or that a wet week turns one walk into a completely different walk. The sign measures the trail. It cannot measure the day.
The same is true of a neighborhood, which is why I tell people to walk it. Every area guide I keep is at the neighborhoods hub, and if you are earlier in the process, the buying process page is the short version of how it works.
Question for you: when you picture living somewhere, which walk do you imagine taking on a normal Tuesday, and does the place you are considering actually have it?
Adapted from The Best Walking Trails In & Around the Sacramento Area, originally published by Windermere Signature Properties at windermerecalocal.com.
WHEN YOU ARE READY
Let’s talk about what you want in an area.
Send me the areas you are considering and what matters most to you. I will tell you what each one is actually like, including the parts that argue against it. Nothing is committed by asking.
