Lovely & Lush Nature Preserve You Will Want to Explore!

Beautiful Nature Preserve

Cosumnes River Preserve located in Northern California is a beautiful and lively preserve with over 51,000 acres of wetland habitat and agricultural lands in Northern America. It is a co-ownership of various Partners including The Nature Conservancy, Bureau of Land Management, California Department of Fish & Wildlife, and Ducks Unlimited to name a few.

Their Mission is to Protect, Restore, and Manage this lush land while offering The Public, environmental education, scientific research, and outdoor recreation!

Recreation

This landscape offers so many adventurous opportunities including paddling, hiking, nature viewing, to and even hunting.

Trails

I LOVE a beautiful environment that offers easy access to delightful and easy trails. Cosumnes River Preserve does just that! There are three trails offered at the preserve and their intensity ranges from easy to moderate. Sorry friends no incline or extreme hiking offered here, but you get to enjoy the sights and sounds of nature along some of California’s prettiest of lands.  

The River Walk Trail is a 3 + mile loop trail that begins at the visitors center and crosses wooden bridges into the wetlands, oak forest, grasslands, and along the Cosumnes River way. You will also walk alongside Train Tracks owned by the Union Pacific Railroad. If lucky enough you will see railcars tacking along!

Wetlands Walk Trail is a 1-mile loop that you can reach by continuing along the Train Tracks and hitting marker 24 from the River Walk Trail or starting this self-guided trail by beginning and ending at the Visitor Center.

This trail will cross the Franklin Boulevard road, and lead to the the accessible wooden boardwalk path that puts you up-close and surrounded by the lush marshes ♥ It is mostly unshaded so be sure to wear some sunblock and eyeshades!

Boardwalk Trail offer Family fun for all in this Half-mile, round trip, easy, and accessible trail that can be accessed directly from the additional parking lot located across From the main Visitor’s Center Parking lot. Click on the link to view the interactive map of the Preserve and areas open for access: https://www.cosumnes.org/interactive-habitat-map/

For other easy trail ideas check out some of my previous post’s in the Perfectly Practical Trails ♥ series.

Wildlife

In addition to seeing some of the most lush wetlands and plant life in the area, you will be surrounded by wildlife basking in the beauty of their environment. With over 250 species of birds to see, including waterfowl such as the Sandhill Crane, I would definitely advise bringing a pair of binoculars. You may be lucky enough to also spot mammals like otters, deer, bobcats, and coyotes!

Also, watchout for Ticks during the warmer months, although I have never gotten them while on trail here, there is a lot of dry shrubs and grassy areas that ticks love.

Information

ADDRESS: 13501 Franklin Blvd, Walnut Grove, CA 95690

HOURS: 9AM – 5PM

ENTRANCE FEE: Free

PARKING: Free. Two large lots available

BOAT LAUNCH: Yes. Free

RESTROOMS: Yes

VISITOR CENTER: Open M-F 9-3 and weekends when volunteer staff is onsite.

ADA ACCESIBILTY: Yes

PICNIC: Yes. There are picnic tables by the Visitor’s Center deck and other areas around the trails

What to Bring

• Water
• Sunblock
• Sunglasses or Sunhat
• Binoculars
• Closed-toed shoes if you plan to walk the 3+ mile River Walk Trail
• Handwipes (restrooms do not have sinks)
• Snack or picnic lunch
• Mosquito Repellent is a good idea also

Well my adventuring friends, hope you make it out to this wonderful preserve and enjoy all it has to offer. You can easily spend several hours here exploring and talking to knowledgeable staff, and volunteers, so go! Until the next little adventure, Cheers. ~ andee ♥