Pfeiffer Falls, Big Sur

This was a short 2.4 mile round trip hike up to Pfieffer falls from the Pfieffer Falls Big Sur State Park.

Begin by parking in the Day use area #1 and walk towards the creek to find the well marked trail markers. The falls was not very full in May, but quite a dramatic drop, and worth the short hike. I had all 3 of my kids with me, and they made it up with a little coaxing (age 1 (backpack), 3 & 5).


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Del Paso Park Loop

You may have driven by this urban trail previously, and not even noticed it. There's not much to look at here, except for a pond that feeds a nearby creek - which was dry when I walked around it this week with my kids.

The trail is well traveled and is labeled as a bridle trail for the nearby horse stables, and is buried deep enough in the park that you don't notice you're in the city on the northern side of the loop. My favorite aspect of this trail is that it's ±1.0 miles long if you take just the loop portion you can work out a ride of any length of time, trying to break record each time for your best lap on the Strava.com segment labeled SacCX#2 Straights

In previous explorations I had followed the trail underneath the Capital City Freeway & Watt Avenue overpasses, but I would not recommend this route as i got stuck in the sand and found myself face to face with a shady homeless camp. The trail to the east of park road seems much less "homelessy", but does carry evidences of clothing and overnight camps in the offshoot trails.

Spooner Lake Summit - Lake Tahoe, NV

On a quick weekend trip to Tahoe with the family, this was the perfect ride to satisfy my bike craving. Going on a trip with the family can make it difficult to spend "me" time, but this ride took just under 3 hours, and got in all the climbing i needed to make it feel like I could have ridden all the way around the lake.

American River Parkway Trail

If you live in Sacramento and own a bicycle, you no doubt have explored this great bike trail in the area. The American River Parkway starts in Old Town Sacramento near the Train Museum, and ends at Beals Point in Folsom. The mile markers painted on the trail begin in Old Town at 0 and end at 31 miles. Along the way you'll cross the river 3 times, and pass historical markers, parks, Sac State, mild white water, a salmon & trout fish hatchery, 2 dams, CSUS aquatic center and old town Folsom. Even with the out & back distance of over 62 miles, the trail can be extended at both ends from Beals point up Auburn folsom Rd and out to Foresthill, and downtown across the river to West Sacramento down W. Capitol  to the trail on the Yolo Causeway out to Davis & Beyond.

The trail is so prolific, that when the Tour of California comes to town you'll see almost all the pro riders on the trail getting their miles in (yes, Lance Armstrong has ridden the trail, and in a conversation I had with Floyd Landis he also was aware of the trail)

The horse trails are closed to mountain bikers, but the only people that will be bothered to see you there are the trail runners. As a kid I was actually caught by a park ranger on a horse, but let off with an easy warning. The main paved trail is smooth, maintained, and relatively flat with an "up river" direction.

Sac County Trail Map:                                                     link
Partial Trail KML (Business 80 to Folsom Bluffs):            KML file




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McArthur - Burney Falls

I'd been on this trail once before, but I was still surprised by the beauty of this waterfall. I was there on at 100+ degree day and when you drop down to the lower pool, you're immediately cooled down by the mist of the falls. It's a great place to be on a hot day, and a necessary stop if you've never been before.

The first section of the trail all the way to the falls is a paved trail and very heavily traveled. There are a few different trails surrounding the falls, including a hike to the Lake Britton and back. The falls loop trail is only about a mile, and is worth the trip since you have to climb out the the canyon anyway, you might as well climb out the other side and see the top of the falls.

State Parks Link:       http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=25166
Distance:                   ±1.0 miles
Difficulty:                 Easy
KML File                 Download


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Cinder Cone / Snag Lake / Butte Lake

This was a great overnight hike to Snag Lake. Start at the Butte Lake Campground which is down a well-marked dirt road about 6 miles from Highway 44. For overnight hikes, you'll need to obtain a back country permit which is free and available by simply filling out the forms available in a drop box at the ranger station. If you follow the loop counter clockwise, there is a brochure available at the trailhead for $.50 that details the geological features along the way (the same info is available on the trail markers along the way).

I followed trail around counter clockwise, and was surprised to find the first 5 miles of the 7 mile trail to grassy creek was all ground lava bed and was comparable to hiking 5 miles on a sandy beach. The trail itself was not terribly difficult but the sand + altitude wore me out. Grassy Creek at the south end of Snag Lake was the perfect place to set up camp, and so thought about 3 other groups when I was there. Mid July, there was not much of a creek left, but by looking at Google Maps, it fills in very high in other seasons. The hike up Cinder Cone was very steep at a pitch of about 35 degrees at some points, but is not too long and well worth it for views of the painted dunes and the Fantastic Lava Beds (marked on the map below).


Difficulty:                                       Moderate
Distance:                                       14 miles round trip
KML file:                                       download
Lassen National Park Trail Maps:  click here


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Independence Trail West - Grass Valley

It seemed fitting to post the Independence Trail West for the 4th of July. I hiked this trail on National Trails Day, and got some additional info regarding it's history. This is the oldest handicapped accessible trail in the United States.This was a wonderful trail and easy hiking. My 3.5 year old hiked 4/5 of the miles, and probably would have hiked the whole thing had we done the out and back trail rather than the loop.
To do the loop, take the trail heading towards the river on the right about .4 miles after the trailhead. After arriving at the river (photo of a nice swimming hole below), you continue across the bridge and up the fire road until the top. You'll see a sign for the trail on the left hand side, and you continue a very moderate but beautiful from this point back towards the flume.

Distance:             4.4 miles

Elevation Gain:    1,385 feet

Difficulty:             Out & Back (Easy); Loop (Moderate/Difficult)

KML file:            download

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