Sacramento Running News

This is going to take a while. (SRN photo)

The paved trail along the north-ish side of Lake Natoma (below the Orangevale Bluffs) has been closed now for the past six months, due to multiple, large debris slides during this past winter’s record rains.

If you’ve been waiting with anticipation for the day you’ll once again be able run or ride your bike through here, expect to wait another several months.

Apparently, it won’t be as simple as running a front-end loader down there and scraping up the debris.

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Ranger Ollie sez: “Be careful!”

If you are planning to run on the American River Parkway this weekend, don’t forget that Saturday (July 21st) is Eppies Great Race.

This means the trail will be closed from the Guy West Bridge to Sunrise (figure miles 7.5 to 20) from 6:00 AM until noon.

One option is to run somewhere else and then head over to River Bend Park and watch the finish. Count how many athletes get out of their kayaks and fall down to the ground because their legs cramp 50 feet from the finish line.

Plan accordingly!

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A bit of the Parkway Trail

It looks like there is some levee repair work going on along the South Side of the American River between Watt Ave and Larchmont Park.

The Army Corps of Engineers says the trail along the top of the levee will be closed until approximately November 30th.

This probably won’t affect traffic much along the Parkway, since the trail ends at Larchmont and there is very little through traffic anyway.  (Most Parkway users will be on the North side of the river.)

Be sure to plan accordingly!

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Something we all enjoy.

Like mushrooms after a summer rain, signs are popping up on the Parkway announcing upcoming closures and detours.

The first one is actually on the Sacramento River, just up-stream of Old Sacramento and the I Street Bridge.

There is a bit of erosion encroaching on the trail and an unguarded drop off along the river side. This is posted to be closed starting on July 13 and be re-opened on July 17th. We’ll try to keep you posted.

The detour for this part of the trail is (from Downtown) to head up I Street as though you are crossing the I Street Bridge and turning right down Jibboom Street. This will actually carry you up and over the work-site.

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If you are planning to run on the American River Parkway this Saturday, you should probably avoid the area within six-miles of William Pond. The Parkway Half Marathon will be starting there at 7:15, and the Parkway is otherwise “closed” in this area until noon.

Remember that the Parkway Half is actually two out-and-back races, with walkers going upstream from William Pond and the runners going downstream.

Plan accordingly!

This morning, I had the opportunity to run on the upper Parkway (upstream of Hazel Ave to Beals Point) and found it to be in quite good shape. State Parks folks were out keeping an eye on things and there was only a small amount of debris on the roadway.

The only standing water worth noting is just on the west edge of Negro Bar.

I felt that the most dangerous section was along the bluffs just downstream from Negro Bar. The new, cement retaining wall has already been put to work this winter, but you should still be alert to rocks and debris falling down on the trail while the hills are saturated from the endless rain.

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All the gates are open at Nimbus Dam (on the American River at Hazel Ave)

In case you weren’t already aware, the rivers are running quite high. As a result, much of Discovery Park is underwater, making the American River Parkway impassable at that point.

There are reports of flooding at the 0.5 mile mark (near the archery range), just past the 1 mile mark, and along the creek where the trail passes under Northgate Blvd. (between the 2 and 2.5 mile marks).

I am also getting reports this morning of flooding on the upper end of the Parkway, near mile marks 20.5 and 21, or Sunrise Blvd. (An alert reader tells me there is a well marked detour at this point.)

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Running around Lake Natoma is going to be tricky for a couple of weeks while the county installs retaining walls along the north side of the lake.

Managers at Folsom Lake State Recreation Area announced that the paved bike path along the north side of Lake Natoma will be temporarily closed due to construction activities along the trail from January 24-27 and January 31-February 3, 2011. The trail closure will be in effect on those days from 7:00 AM until 4:30 PM. The specific section of the trail to be closed is the portion of the trail along the Orangevale Bluffs, from the intersection of the Main Avenue access spur to Negro Bar.

It appears that the trail will be open during the weekend. Here is a map of the closures.

You can still run between Hazel Avenue and Beals Point by using the south side trail and crossing the  Historic Truss Bridge in Historic Folsom.

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The “Lake Loop” will be considerably longer than 11-miles if you run it this weekend, as the Hazel Bridge will be closed.

You should still be able to cross Hazel on the South side of the river. Check here (PDF) for more information and plan accordingly!