Sactown Magazine has named the Barge Canal Trail as one of 10 “cool winter hikes” in the Sacramento area.

The paved portion of the trail opened in West Sacramento last year has been a popular spot for walkers, hikers, bikers and fishermen during the pandemic.

BARGE CANAL TRAIL

Location: West Sacramento (starting point)
Length: 6.6 miles round-trip
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation Gain: Virtually none

Who knew? A peaceful, easily accessed oasis has been hiding in plain sight amid West Sacramento’s industrial district, just a couple of miles from the Tower Bridge. The Barge Canal Trail, a path lining the man-made waterway that serves the Port of West Sacramento, has been the secret purview of local fishermen, long before the city upgraded it last year with amenities like seating and lighting along the way. Setting out from the parking lot, the paved trek soon gives way to well-tended gravel, with the canal on your right and a buffering tract of reedy, grassy fields between you and any development. Walk half a mile and you’ll outpace the fishermen laden with gear, getting the place to yourself. Pause at the 1-mile mark to watch kayak fishers cast their lines against a backdrop of grain silos, shipping cranes, docks and vintage tugboats. At mile 2, the canal widens to become Lake Washington, where a graceful pod of white rowing shells dart past as a gaggle of geese looks on—and a red-tailed hawk sitting on a post eyes the geese. Covering the walkway’s entire 6.6-mile length on a chilly morning, I encountered exactly three humans who weren’t carrying armloads of fishing paraphernalia, and we exchanged pleasantries about how pleased we were to be in on the marvelous secret. But the Barge Canal Trail is too good to hide, so it’s time to let the cat out of the bag (sorry, fish).

Read the full article: https://www.sactownmag.com/10-cool-winter-hikes/