Explore the best rated trails in North Highlands, CA, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the North River Walk Trail and UC Davis and Russell Boulevard Paths . With more than 51 trails covering 329 miles you're bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
Started the trail at the water tower. Really nice to finally have a trail that connects to Sacramento. Had to cross streets but it was worth it for the ride.
I am fortunate to live a few blocks from the trail and I ride it every day. From Beal’s Point at Folsom Lake to the Aquatic Center at Lake Natoma takes you through shaded oaks and along the river. Start at Beal’s and ride to the Folsom Pedestrian Bridge, enjoy the stunning views of the river. You can cross the bridge into historic Folsom and stop for fantastic food at Karen’s Bakery, right on the trail, a favorite stopping point for bikers. Return across the bridge to the trail and through Black Miner’s park and picnic area right on the water. Continuing on, you’ll ride along the water then through lovely oak trees then come out along the river again as you approach Lake Natoma. You can cross Hazel Ave to the Aquatic Park/Beach. This connects to further trails if you want to continue. Both Black Miner’s and Aquatic parks have swimmingpicnicking/kayak rentals as well.
The Class I bike path (paved) starts, in the west end, in the town of El Dorado. It has some "rolling" sections which are short but can challenge a novice rider. From the west turn left on Oriental St, stay left for a short distance to the parking area at the El Dorado Station.
From there the paved trail starts. It crosses Blanchard Rd (uncontrolled crossing), then Forni Rd (controlled crossing with a button to trigger light). You will soon come to Missouri Flat Rd, at the point the trail ends you must get across the 4-lane road + suicide lane. You can see a parking area across the road to the right, the traffic can be heavy and 40mph+. The safest crossing is travelling along the sidewalk to the light near Walmart, then continue on the sidewalk to the parking area, which is where the paved trail continues.
In approx. 100 yards you will see a bike park with a composite track, and has a nice bathroom! After a short climb you will descend to the Weber Creek wooden bridge, hit this at 20+mph on a road bike, it's smoother as you glide over the rather rough wood (they have replaced maybe 30% with smoother wood, need to do the other 70%!!!). After the bridge crossing you will climb a steady 2% grade to a portion that parallels Forni Rd, after you cross Forni Rd you come to a section Dedicated to fallen El Dorado Co Sheriff's Deputy Brian “Ish” Ishmael, RIP!
At the end of this section you will need to ride east on Main St, travelling through downtown Placerville. The traffic is usually heavy, but speeds are low, if you keep your pace up, you can keep up with traffic (please watch for cars pulling out or opening doors!). At the first stop SIGN (not light) turn left on Bedford St, and then a quick right (maybe 30 yards) before Hwy 50 to connect with the trail again.
You will reach the "Placerville Station" bus depot. Directly across Mosquito Rd is the continuation of the trail. Nearly 2 miles on the trail you will come to Jacquier Rd, take a left on this road, then turn right to the El Dorado Trail parking lot, the trail continues from there for 3.5 miles and 580 feet to the end of the paved portion. This is a fairly steady 3% grade with not much relief, so novice bikers may find this a bit of a challenge. Directly across from the end of the paved portion is an unpaved trail for a mile that ends near Hwy 50. I have ridden it on a road bike w/o too much trouble. You can also turn left at the end of the paved portion onto Halcon Rd (10 to 11% grade!), then left on Camino Hills Dr, then left on Vista Tierra, right on Camino Heights Dr, just before 50 make a right on Pondorado Rd this Hwy 50 frontage road will take you to a fairly new round-a-bout and underpass. This will open up a lot of road riding in the Apple Hill area. Narrow roads and some steep hills (10+% grades) and moderate traffic, so ride with day flashing front and rear lights (some areas are in deep woods, so its darkish even in the day). As a local, and have ridden the area many times, I avoid the area Late Sept through Mid Nov. Traffic is really busy and people tend to get lost or frustrated.
For non-road riders (dirt) I have ridden west on the unpaved trail (single track) on a road bike. It was fun until it wasn't! The slide out and low speed fall hitting a rock with my knee wasn't worth the previous mile of fun, trust me! I chalk this up to a complete lack of judgement, especially since I had another set of wider gravel rims with mounted small knobby tires.
DO NOT plan to use this trail with inline skates. It was a disaster. Unless you own all terrain skates, these paths are better for walking, cycling.
Great views during the bike trail. My son and I went on a beautiful day. Stoped by old sac for some food on the way back from Discovery Park.
We really enjoyed this trail! Great views with lots of places to stop. And plenty of restrooms. We went during the week and there were a lot of people out there. I can imagine it gets pretty crowded on the weekends. But, we would definitely ride this one again.
Sure happy to have this path available for our communities. A great way to get out and get some fresh air and the views.
I’m from out of town and was looking for a trail on which we could walk our little dog. I was hoping for something flat, safe, well-maintained, and devoid of poison oak. This trail was all of that, with extra bonuses of wide pavement and absolutely gorgeous surroundings. All of us, including my dog, loved it. We’ll be coming back whenever we visit.
Perfect for dirt skateboard there’s places to explore everywhere you go
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