Lake Tahoe to the Delta: Sacramento region plans 1,070-mile trail network

As the Sacramento area’s freeways become more congested and suburban sprawl covers formerly open space, regional planners are focusing on alternate ways of moving people around.

After three years of planning and community surveys, the region’s chief planning agency will announce in a series of public events today the framework of an extensive trail network that will serve nearly every corner of the six-county region.

The Sacramento Region Parks and Trails plan would run from the shores of Lake Tahoe to the Delta. It would serve the Sierra foothills of El Dorado County, the rural farmlands of Yolo County and reach as far north as New Bullards Bar Reservoir in Yuba County. And it would transform a puzzle of disconnected trails into a roughly 1,070-mile network.

“We have a vision to connect every single community in the six-county region,” said James Corless, executive director of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, the chief planning agency for the region. “We want to be a national model.”

A focus of the plan is serving under-resourced and disadvantaged communities. A SACOG analysis showed that low-income residents of the Sacramento region have 30% less access to bike and pedestrian trails than those living in average- or high-income neighborhoods.

“We have such inequitable access to trails in our region,” said Victoria Cacciatore, an active transportation analyst with SACOG. “We are looking to close that gap.”

For instance, improved trails along Morrison Creek, Florin Creek and Elder Creek would benefit communities in south Sacramento. Yuba City’s existing trails are largely along the banks of the Feather River, even though most people live far from the river.

A proposed map of the network shows it would run through Apple Hill and downtown Placerville in El Dorado County, add miles of trails to Elk Grove and eastern Sacramento County, connect an existing trail near the Sutter Buttes with a path in Yuba City and run along Interstate 80 from the Tahoe basin to south Placer County.

“Investing in an interconnected trails network has so many benefits to our communities and our region,” said Sacramento Councilman Rick Jennings, chair of the SACOG board of directors. “Not only is this an alternative transportation option, but it opens up the beauty of our communities and our region’s natural and open spaces for all to enjoy.”

Planners will also prioritize placing trails near roadways with high rates of pedestrian and vehicle crashes, helping to provide cyclists and walkers an alternative to dangerous streets.

SACOG planners will work with the 28 cities and counties in the region to develop the final layout.

“The future of transit, how we serve people, it’s so vital,” Corless said. “Walking and biking and scooting are going to be with us for decades, it’s going to hold its value.”

This story was originally published May 20, 2022 at 5:00 AM.