Convert Informal Social Trails into Durable Paths

This project aims to improve 10.5 miles of existing informal trails along the American River Parkway and adjacent open spaces in the Sacramento region. By converting these social trails into paved and safe paths with added vegetation, the project promotes outdoor activity and habitat restoration in an area used by an estimated 8 million visitors annually. The informal trails, created over decades by foot traffic, have contributed to erosion, fragmented wildlife habitat, and created safety hazards including unstable surfaces and poor sightlines that discourage use by families and people with mobility limitations. Representative Ami Bera has secured $3.2 million in federal community project funding for the first phase, which covers 4.3 miles of the highest-priority segments identified by Sacramento County Regional Parks. The design calls for eight-foot-wide decomposed granite paths in sensitive habitat areas and ten-foot-wide asphalt surfaces in sections that connect to existing paved trails, ensuring ADA accessibility throughout. Native plant restoration along the trail corridors would use species such as valley oak, blue elderberry, and deer grass to stabilize soil and provide habitat for the threatened valley elderberry longhorn beetle. The Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates and the American River Parkway Foundation have both endorsed the project, while some environmental groups have expressed concern that formalizing trails could increase foot traffic in areas currently used by nesting bird species. The project team has committed to conducting seasonal wildlife surveys and incorporating trail closures during sensitive nesting periods from March through June. Construction is expected to begin in the fall of 2026 with completion of all three phases targeted for late 2028. Local matching funds from Sacramento County’s parks maintenance budget would cover ongoing maintenance estimated at $180,000 per year.