Auburn State Recreation Area

Reviewing the trail that leads to/​from Lake Clementine and directly below Foresthill Bridge. Each way is about 1.7 miles.
I know how confusing it can be to locate a trail. Here are the dropped pins, depending which way you want to start. This is as close as it’ll take you to the trail gates and parking spaces. Hope it relieves the intimidation of finding the right place!
Lake Clementine (drive past Gate 166)
38°56’04.8“N 121°01’32.8“W
Foresthill Bridge (Gate 139)
139 Old Foresthill Rd, Auburn, CA
For safety purposes, I recommend starting at Gate 139-​Foresthill Bridge. The roads passing Gate 139 have two lanes and double yellow lines which is safer to drive in. Contrarily, the road leading to Lake Clementine is narrow enough for only one car. You’d be in trouble if a car was coming the opposite direction. There are also many blind turns on the windy path.
Both terminals have clean restrooms and self-​serve paid parking for $ 10. Bring exact change to put in the envelope.
If you want to come closer to the dam, there’s a tiny sign labeled «TRAIL» between Gate 166 and the parking lot. The safest way is climbing down the rocks along the concrete wall. (Refer to photo.)
Gate 140 splits at the fork with Gate 166. 140 is where the trail eventually leads to Gate 139-​Foresthill Bridge.
It wasn’t a walk in the park or a trek up Mt. Fuji, but the distance and level of difficulty was just right for beginners. If you’ve ever dreaded a hike, this is definitely a pleasant one!

FANTASTIC place to hike. This is in such a great location. Sometime the parking in a little tight. The trails are great, the trails are pretty wide. I think its the perfect place to pack a lunch and bring the family.

We went to the black hole of Calcutta falls. It had recently been raining, and so the falls were pretty! They aren’t huge, but after the rain they weren’t disappointing either. There’s a nice bridge looking at it. It was sprinkling as we walked, but with the right clothes we still had fun. We couldn’t make it all the way from the falls to the next point on the trail because the trail got muddy from rain and a little steep in some places. Overall, it was a good beginners hike with many views of the river. Worth going!

Black Hole of Calcutta Falls
This trail is 2.2 miles round trip. The trail is relatively flat, making it great for beginners like myself. The trail was scenic with trees from the mountain range, a wide stream, and a bridge in front of the waterfall. Sadly, the waterfall itself was not very impressive. It was rather dry from the drought.
There’s free parking right by the entrance gate, 2 porta potties, and 2 trash cans at the beginning of the trail.
Also, watch out for dog and horse poop!

My go to hiking spot. Diverse set of trails for all abilities and interests. Quarry trail is great for the kids or low effort folks, flat and wide even with Porta potties and picnic benches. River access is steep in most places but doable. Check out the rock climbers there near the quarry Friday through Sunday.
Highly recommended.

Loved my first visit last week.

By far the funnest experience ive had in awhile. If you like outdoors and hiking this is the place to be. Be cautious as there is poison oak along some of the trails. We found the most serene hidden waterfall on our trail. Definetly the place to go!

Worth the $ 10 parking… hiked the Clementine Trail and went all the way to Clementine Falls! Great place to hike… kids really enjoyed it!

First time hiking this trail and I can say I’ve been missing out after living in Sacramento all my life. It’s about a 40 minute drive up highway 80 and well worth it for a short hike (2.6 miles from the car to the private property sign at the top). Its starts with a basic 1.2 mile walk along the dirt road, then you can climb up the winding hill if you want the challenge and/​or views that come with it. There is a climbing area about half-​way through which was pretty cool to watch for a while and take a short break.

Quarry Trail is a great 3 mile trail along the river, part of Auburn State Recreation Area. Heading toward Placerville on Highway 49 cross the river and park on the left.
The trail is flat in most areas, but does have a few steep inclines. You have stunning views and its a great way to get into nature quickly from Sacramento. As stated by another Unilocaler, the port-​a-​potties are also surprisingly clean!
Do yourself a favor and get some fresh air in this great area!

This place is pretty cool. Road getting down to camping area is dicy! nice campsites but too many people coming at night to party and leaving b4 Rangers come in morning to avoid paying overnight fees. Very cool tho campsites right next to river for easy fishing.

Review for the Black Hole of Calcutta Falls hike.
Easy, dog-​friendly– 2.1 miles roundtrip that took around 1 – 2 hrs.
My boyfriend, cousins, baby husky, and I went on a hiked in July thinking the weather would be suitable. Boy, were we sweating! We arrived around 11AM with the blazing sun above us and started sweating within seconds. I recommend going in the spring time around April for a cooler hike and a bigger waterfall.
Arrived at Gate #150 (11AM) in Auburn State Park. Park along the side for free. Doggy-​bags were available at the gate. We walked shortly on the gravel until we reached the bridge you see in the photo. American River was under us and on the way back we saw a lot of people sunbathing and playing in the water. We continued walking on the flat dusty road until we reached the waterfall, but in the summer time, it’s more of a stream. It’s a nice photo-​op. Baby husky didn’t want to leave the cool water.
At this point, you can decide to either hike back the same way you came or continue hiking to the rangers station then walk back. If you continue, it’s an upward hike. We walked for another 0.5 miles before we decided to head back since the baby husky didn’t seem to want to walk anymore.
I recommend bringing 2 – 3 bottles of water per person. Once you reach the waterfall, head back and go down to play in the clear American River. Tons of hikes in the Auburn area, but due to the drought, everywhere is low water level.
Since my first hike here was a bit disappointing, I’ll give it a 3 star. But I can’t wait to go back to explore other hiking trails and hopefully bump the rating.

This state park is really peaceful and I didn’t see many people during my hike. My friends and I arrived around 11am and surprisingly it was still really quiet. We decided to go for the Black Hole of Calcutta Falls trail (gate 150). Looking at the Unilocal pictures, the waterfall looked really big so halfway through our hike we hit a mini waterfall called «Canyon Creek» and was thinking that there would be a bigger waterfall up ahead. Boy were we wrong! We kept walking and decided to turn back around when we saw that we were getting further and further away from our destination.
Good thing we turned around because we found out that the Canyon Creek was actually the waterfall in the pictures for the Black Hole of Calcutta Falls. Because of the drought, the waterfall is not as big like it is in the pictures.
The hike was about 2 miles round trip so it wasn’t too bad. There isn’t much shade so I suggest bringing and drinking lots of water! Being able to take a dip in the American River after our hike was really refreshing. As mentioned, there weren’t many people around so no need to worry about it being crowded.
We also saw a couple of people riding on their horses so there are a lot of horse poop on the ground so watch out for that!

Came here with my friends around 11:30am to go on the easy hike to the Black Hole of Calcutta Falls (
).
I was afraid of driving there, but the windy roads weren’t as bad as I thought. Also, the parking next to Gate 150 (entrance to the trailhead) was not full upon arrival despite thinking we had a late start. Paid parking is available if you drive straight instead of making the last right turn towards the gate, but I’m glad I decided to try to find parking since it ended up being closer to the entrance and was free!
2 portapotties available a couple steps after the gate. They were surprisingly VERY clean.
The hike itself was fairly easy with nice wide paths, but it felt like a struggle due to the heat. We were definitely getting dehydrated! The falls were sadly a bit dry and not much of a destination. My friends and I ended hiking PAST it because we thought we were just passing a creek like the guide had mentioned. Luckily, we decided to turn around and went back to the «creek» only to talk to people hanging out there that it was the Black Hole of Calcutta Falls that we were looking for.
Also worth mentioning is that every couple feet, there’s horse poop on the trail. We actually had some horseback riders pass by us a few times. But yes… DO take notice of what you’re stepping on.
We ended up hiking down to the American River to relax after our hike. (There’s a small path down to the river after you cross the Mountain Quarries Railroad Bridge.) A lot more people came towards late afternoon just for the river, so parking was also packed by the time we left around 2:00pm.
Well worth the visit!

3.5, but decided to round up, as it was my issue why It is 3.5.
I took my little sister and Goddaughter to walk down to the river, and it was a little more than an hour both ways. It was a nice day out, and playing in the river near the bridge was awesome.
The walk back up was hard, but that is my fault for not researching the area. And now, the «downfall»:
I have been to other trails with drinking fountains, but there was not one to be found. Naturally, I should have researched more, but we had nothing to drink, and we walked probably close to 2.5 miles uphill after frolicking in the river with nothing to drink. A drinking fountain or two along the trail would be great, if they had it.
However, a minor inconvenience. I would love to do this trail again… just this time, better prepared with some cold water bottles in a backpack.
Fun overall in the river, my sister took a «shower» in the waterfall along the path, and beautiful views.

Omg there’s days and days of exploring the auburn rec area! Hiking, biking, boating, fishing, camping. It’s endless.
It not super populated so you can really get away from it all. Most of the area is easily accessible and easy to get around.
If you get really deep in the back country be aware of poison oak, rattle snakes and apparently mountain lions. The scenery is gorgeous and wild.

If you haven’t ventured up to the Auburn State Recreation Area, you’ll find miles of easily accessible and (mostly) well marked trails to explore.
TIP: Stop by a local sports store and pick up the local trail guide — the skinny one in the manila jacket. It’ll be invaluable in selecting which trail you’ll choose at every intersection.
SECOND TIP: Springtime means lots of ticks! I got bit by a deer tick in early April and never strayed off the trail. Best to put all your hiking gear in a bag and washing in hot water at home.
Post-​hike suggestions include Royal Thai, Auburn Alehouse and Knee Deep Brewing (5 stars for Knee Deep!). Other than that, other Unilocalers have described the routes and scenery much better than I would … read up, and hit the trail!

So I had been looking for a place to hike near Sacramento and I think I may have finally found it. Now I had been asking around and everyone kept things like the American River bike trail. Well sure that is great for walking but it is flat and paved that is NOT hiking. So after looking and asking around I was finally referred to this location. I think I just found my weekly hiking escape.
I noticed coming in that there were a lot of people parked along the road (which is where you want to park if you want in free) and then there is a small parking lot at the trail head where I parked once I threw my disabled veteran pass on the dash I was off. (If you are a disabled vet the state issues these so you get free park admission fyi just in case you don’t have one, and they are pretty simple to get) I hiked the Quarry trail for the record, but there are a TON more trails in this fairly large park.
Along the trail there are a bunch of offshoot trails that you can get a good workout on. I went up the PG&E trail right by the picnic area and ruins. Note that up until you get to the offshoots this trail stays fairly flat, but then you get into some real nice uphill climbs. There was an area that was specifically for rock climbing which was empty when we went up but real busy when we got back. There are bathrooms all along the trail, but bring water because there is no drinkable source of water here.
All in all this was a great getaway and I cannot wait til next weekend to go back and try another few trails. This is a must do if you are looking for a nice escape from the city with some nature. Even though it is a busy park it is expansive enough you get to have peace and quiet to yourself.

Ran up Training Hill a few weekends ago… That was intense! Almost 1 mile of climbing — no switchbacks, just straight up! Want a climbing workout? Do Training Hill!
We got to the trailhead parking at 8 am and snagged the last spot on Hwy 49. Get there early! Did the reverse parking maneuver and we were off to the green gate near No Hands Bridge. Training Hill must be part of the Olstead Loop. The signs were relatively easy to follow… (Run to Cool then run back to Auburn). The loop was 5 miles exactly. Some horse droppings but not unexpected. Definitely some beautiful country.

Feeling adventurous? Regular old running routine got you bored? Want some beautiful scenery? Well, jump in the car and get on over to Auburn and hit the trails with me! Summer is here, so that means I’ll be heading up to Auburn every weekend with the Fleet Feet group to do some trail running. Every run is an exploration of nature in all its glory! And, there are tons of trails to explore to keep you from seeing the same old scenery.
You’ll find deer, dogs, horses, treacherous hills, rocky slopes, thorny bushes, poison oak, and much more! I always come back from my runs dusted in a lovely reddish brown powder and occasionally get some scratches and scrapes from the terrain. Once, I heard a rattling sound, but never actually saw the snake because I sprinted out of there faster than a speeding bullet! And, there are some strange things out there too. Sorry to be gross, but there must be some strange, large animal that lurks at night because there are huge piles of animal poo (I hope it’s animal poo), but I’ve never seen this creature during daylight hours. I’m thinking bear or Bigfoot! Now all of those things may sound like negatives, but they sure make for an interesting experience and keep me on my toes (especially the animal poo)!
My tips (some are obvious, but I’m just trying to help):
*Parking is $ 10 per visit (ouch!). You can buy a seasonal parking pass to save you some money or you can park along the side of the road for free. I opt for the latter.
*For runners, bring the essentials. I always bring Gu, my camelback with ice water, sunscreen, chapStick, tissue, and my phone. All of these items help me out in the elements!
*Runners should invest in trail running shoes. They’re life changing! The grip is awesome compared to road shoes.
*Stay in a group. You could get injured, lost, or run into Bigfoot, so it’s safest to be with a buddy or more. I’ve seen many people fall during our runs, and I even got lost myself, so the more the merrier in my opinion!
*Move to the side for the horses and bikes. I always have my headphones on, but I keep the music low so I can hear people trying to get past me. I’m especially aware of the horses because they can get spooked easily. And, we certainly don’t want a stampede on those trails!
*Please do not remove the trail markers. As I mentioned, I got lost once, but at least I was in a group. We all got lost because some rude person removed the trail markers that Fleet Feet had placed the night before. First of all, our runs are long (we’re talking double digits for miles), so it takes them awhile to mark the route we’re going to run. And, it’s just cruel to remove markers knowing that people could get lost.
*Don’t touch the plants! I just avoid all plants in case I happen to have an encounter with an itchy one!
Overall, these trails are perfect for just about anyone seeking some fun. Come, enjoy, and get dusty! It’s a beautiful place for running, biking, horseback riding, or hiking. And remember, please don’t remove those trail markers. They’re all I have! I’m scared of getting lost! Bigfoot might get me!