Auburn State Recreation Area

Patrick Murphy (pmurphy1@ix.netcom.com) mailed me a "Sacramento Bee" article (author: Matt Peters) that describes mountain bike trails in the Auburn S.R.A. These trail descriptions are summarized here.

The trails are in five separate sections:

1. Clementine/Culvert
   Clementine trail begins where the Auburn-Foresthill road crosses the North Fork of the American River. It runs northeast, alongside the North Fork, for roughly 4 miles, until reaching Lake Clementine dam. At this point the Culvert trail (beginner-intermediate) will take you an additional 3 miles south, to the top of the Confluence trail.

   See also Brett Bymaster’s, Rory Huber’s, "The Ogre’s Guide", and Natomas Bike Shop’s descriptions of this ride

2. Confluence
   For advanced riders. This trail begins off Old Foresthill Road, northeast of Auburn, and runs southwest (i.e., back towards Auburn) for 2.5 miles, following the northern side of the canyon formed by the Middle Fork of the American River.

3. Quarry
   A beginner-intermediate alternative to the Confluence trail, this 7-mile trail (a fire road) follows the south side of the same canyon. It begins off Highway 49, near the confluence of the North and Middle Forks of the American River, and ends at Poverty Bar. The trail contains three steep (but short) climbs.
4. Cool/Olmstead Loop (aka. Knickerbocker)
   This trail, the most heavily-used of the system, is based around a 9.5 mile loop, with separate crossing trails that add another 10 miles. To access this loop, take Highway 49 east of Auburn to the town of Cool, then start behind the fire station there. This area is said to have some good views of the Sacramento Valley. Unfortunately it is also said to be popular with equestrians.

   See also Brett Bymaster’s, Rory Huber’s, "The Ogre’s Guide", Natomas Bike Shop’s, and Steve Wolf’s descriptions of this ride

5. Stagecoach
   A 3 mile beginner-intermediate trail, running from Russell Road (off Lincoln Way in Auburn) to the Old Foresthill Road bridge.

   See also Brett Bymaster’s and "The Ogre’s Guide" descriptions of this ride

For more information

• The official State Parks site for this area
• Maps of several trails in this area, from "ASRA Canyon Keepers". (Note: Not all of the trails listed on this page are open to bicycles.)

Return to the mountain biking page

©1995-2019 Ross Finlayson