If you are riding mountain bike trails near Auburn, Folsom and El Dorado Hills, we built it. We still maintain it.
Photo: Building the Connector Trail, Auburn, CA - 2004
Trails don’t build themselves. It takes thousands of hours of volunteer labor to plan, build and maintain your local trails.
Created in 1988, FATRAC is a 100% volunteer grassroots trail building and trail maintenance organization. We work with public and private land managers to maintain existing trails and create new trails. We also work to promote mountain bike experiences and education for an enhanced outdoor experience for everyone.
Core local mountain bike trails built or maintained by FATRAC:
DarringtonTrail
The original local trail. A classic NorCal lakeside singletrack. 7.5 miles of high-speed fun one way from the Salmon Falls bridge. Combine with Flagstaff Hill climb and other trails around the Peninsula, and up the South Fork of the American River for bigger adventures.
Foresthill Divide Loop Trail
10 mile loop on both sides of Foresthill Road. The most popular local singletrack loop, sometimes known as the “upper loop.” Combine with Connector and lower loop for the burly Auburn Double.
Foresthill Divide Connector
Super-fun and fast 3.5 mile connection between Auburn Upper Loop and Auburn lower loop.
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Culvert Trail and Confluence
The downhill section of the Auburn “lower loop.” Bomber banked downhill turns and through the culvert. Unforgettable, exposed rocky downhill along the Middle Fork of the American River. Most popular local shuttle route.
Manzanita and Mossy Rock
Intriguing trails making the downhill from Russell Road to the Confluence longer, more technical and more fun! If you’ve got the legs, combine with the Auburn double to make the Auburn trifecta!
Sweetwater Trail
The south side of the Lake. Darrington Trail’s 3.5-mile slightly more technical cousin. Cross the old bridge over to Darrington when the lake is low for loop options!
Other area trails that FATRAC either helped to build or helps to maintain:
Granite Bay Trail System
Hidden Falls Trail System
Cronan Ranch and the South Fork American River Trail
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Olmstead Loop Trail
Hole-in-the-Ground Trail
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Sly Park Trail (Jenkinson Reservoir)
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Fair Oaks Bike Park
Auburn Bike Park
New Riding opportunities assisted by FATRAC
Located on 9 acres overlooking the scenic American River Canyon, the park is designed for riders of all abilities and ages, helping to build skills while having fun! The Auburn Recreation District partnered with local bike park builder Randy Spangler and the non-profit Auburn Trails Alliance, to design and build the park.
Located in Phoenix Park, the newly launched Fair Oaks Bike Park is an exciting, family-friendly skills course and pump track geared towards beginning and intermediate riders. Fair Oaks Bike Park provides a safe and fun environment where young and old can ride their bikes while improving their overall abilities and fitness.
Salmon Falls Ranch
New trail options for riders exploring the Salmon Falls zone. The Acorn Creek trail connects the South Fork American River trail to Salmon Falls Road, and a new connection connects riders about 1 mile in on Darrington. Several more miles of trails are currently being developed.
As we speak additional trails in this Salmon Falls Ranch zone are being designed, built and expanded and will soon provide exciting new loop options for all abilities to add into Darrington/Salmon Falls or SFART or be a destination in itself. Please join us for an upcoming workday to help get this system built!
Eldorado Trail
Nearly 30 miles of single track, from Folsom to Placerville. Lots of ups and downs along an old railroad line. Eventually part of a cross-state trail. FATRAC is installing culverts, building bridges, and cutting reroutes to make it a year-round trail.
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Georgetown
Miles and miles of technical singletrack with lots of options to shuttle or pedal your way back up. Once upon a time this area was known for being difficult to navigate, but with assistance from FATRAC it is now much better marked, signed and maintained with more improvements to come!
Big Sugar
Nearly 20 miles of new technical singletrack from Robinson Flat to China Wall outside of Foresthill. Plus reroutes and improvements on many sections of “Trail 5” and the infamous “Trail 6”. These are underutilized area gems if you are looking for new technical opportunities in the area to challenge your skills and your lungs!
Beginner-friendly trails in the American River Parkway near downtown Sacramento. Though currently labeled as a pilot program, the trails are moving toward permanent status.
FATRAC's
History
In 1988, Local riders created FATRAC to work with the California Department of Parks and Recreation in developing and constructing a trail system within the Folsom Lake and Auburn State Recreation Areas near Sacramento. FATRAC worked with Parks to plan, build and maintain trails, to educate trail users about stewardship and to promote best practices in trail building. Local riders donated thousands of hours of labor to make our local trails a reality.
In the following years FATRAC assisted in the planning, advocacy and construction of Darrington (Salmon Falls), Sweetwater, Foresthill Divide Loop and the Auburn “Connector” trails. These are monumental tasks in our densely populated foothills area. That effort has paid off in dividends as these are clearly the most popular mountain biking trails in our area. But as population of our area and popularity of the sport grows, so must our advocacy efforts.
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So in 2013, FATRAC became an official chapter of the International Mountain Bicycle Association. Strengthening bonds with the national movement for more mountain biking and providing more trail building resources for the future. Then in 2019 FATRAC helped support the newly formed California Mountain Biking Coalition (CAMTB) to join forces with thousands of other mountain bikers statewide to push our agenda at the upper state management level. In addition, doing so will supplement our local boots on the groundwork and improve our visibility with all levels of land managers to ensure our seat at the table in California’s protective, but challenging regulatory environment.
Photo: Building the Connector Trail, Auburn, CA, 2003.
Background photo: Culvert Trail, armored turn, 2004.
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