48 Dog-Friendly Trails: in California's Foothills and the Sierra Nevada
Debbi Preston
A Guide to Day Hikes from Sacramento, California into the Foothills and the Sierra Nevada
Hiking is great exercise, a fun family experience, and a way to explore new places. With the hikes in this book, you visit places when wildflowers are at their peak, waterfalls at their fullest, and crowds at a minimum.
Hikes are arranged by month so no matter when you visit Sacramento, you will find something of interest to you and suitable to your physical ability. The trails in this book take you to places with great views, historical points of interest, fishing or swimming holes, and much more.
Ø 48 hikes all easily accomplished in a day trip
Ø all dog-friendly places
Ø many places for people with limited physical capabilities
Ø interpretive trails to educate
Ø place of historic interest
Ø most hikes without any fees
Ø progressive difficulty, starting with January the easiest, and finishing with more difficult hikes in October, November, and December
Ø less ambitious options
About the Author
Looking for a way to exercise her dog, Toots, Debbi Preston started hiking in Desolation Wilderness in 2003. They both enjoyed the experience, but when the snow came to the mountains, their hiking trips ended. As soon as the trails cleared in 2004, they were back to the mountains, exploring hikes to various alpine lakes.
This time, when the snow returned, hiking was too much of a passion to stop and wait five or six months to return to the mountains. Debbi started looking in books for winter and spring trail possibilities, but most were too far away for a day trip or did not allow dogs. She expanded her search for foothill trails by talking with friends, finding web sites on hiking, studying maps, visiting ranger stations and park headquarters, and looking for trailheads while driving.
Over the next three years, Debbi found suitable trails for each month of the year. She wanted trails that rewarded the hiker with great views, wildflowers, waterfalls, or historic interest. She also liked places without any fees. To extend the hiking season in the mountains, she added snowshoeing in the winter. Then, wanting her mother to join in some outings, she looked for places with access for those with physical limitations. She scaled down some hikes to match her mother’s capabilities, and found others that would accommodate a walker.
Debbi added photography to her outings, and turned some of the scenes into oil paintings. One summer she concentrated on studying wildflowers by photographing and then identifying and organizing them by color and number of petals. A credentialed community college teacher, Debbi was also passionate about sharing her knowledge with others and teaching the rewards of hiking. With the encouragement of her husband, Jeff, she organized the hikes into this book.
April
The wildflowers are bursting out in the foothills, so the April hikes will take you to some prime viewing spots. At Buttermilk Bend, docents have marked the trail with identifying markers for the various flowers and native brush. This is an ideal trail for those with physical limitations. On the Lake Clementine Trail, you will walk under the famous Foresthill Bridge, arriving at the end of the trail to awe over Clementine Dam’s loud, cascading overflow.
Hike 13 - Buttermilk Bend
South Yuba River State Park
Bridgeport, CA
Difficulty: 1
Distance: 2.4 miles (in and out)
Elevation: 75-foot change – mostly flat trail
Warning: Limited access for dogs May-September in park
Directions: From Highway 49 in Grass Valley, take the Marysville exit for Highway 20 in the direction of Penn Valley and Marysville. Proceed 7.6 miles to Penn Valley and turn right onto Pleasant Valley Road. Go 7.9 miles to the South Yuba River State Park, cross the bridge, and park in the large gravel lot on the right.
Description: The Buttermilk Bend trail starts at the left end of the parking area. The trail parallels the South Fork Yuba River
