I've only come here for the Aftershock Festival and I really love the way they incorporate the park's natural layout for the festival grounds. The four stages are spread out all over the park with the first one literally underneath a freeway overpass. The other three are tucked away deeper into the park. The bar and food setup here are stellar. Finally a festival where the bars lines are almost existent and the food offered is more than just frozen pizza and hot dogs. My only complaint would be the entry and exit situation. It's two lane road that is part of the bridge over the river. So, it can take a while to leave since this is the only one main location to get out. It was so crowded, that we had to walk pretty far down the road just to catch our uber. Plenty of open grassy areas with tons of places for shade. Put on the suncreen! read more

I've been to Discovery Park only a couple of times for music events and it's been a good experience. The park is very big, lots of grass areas, trees, tables, and a bike trail. When there are events being put on it seems the park is kept very clean and ready for people, not sure about the other days of the year. The last time I came here was for the Sol Blume festival in 2023. The event was held in August instead of the original date in April I believe due to the park flooding. So that's something to keep in mind, the park does flood when we are experiencing heavy rainfall! I'll have to spend more time at the park throughout the year to get a better sense of the area. read more

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This is a beautiful spot, could be 5 star. We enjoy the local sand area to play in, shallow enough to walk about 50 feet into the water (for adult) and often has ducks/geese. The area is not the best, which is the reason for 3 stars. We have had (assumed) homeless people yelling as they walk by, people using drugs, and other uncomfortable encounters. Lots of homeless, important to be aware of surroundings here. We still go because it's the only close option for a short trip. Wish this spot would get cleaned up as it could be amazing! read more

Discovery Park - Playing in the water - Parks Near Me - Sacramento, California

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Visited for Aftershock 2025 Discovery Park is an excellent venue for such, with the only real flaw a lack of easy entry/exit to the venue when opening and closing. Great layout with plenty of space to roam, plenty of shade and excellent security staffing. read more

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Found this place online with decent ratings and decided to give it a try. It is huge with a lot of parking and shade. However, we left early since the patrons seemed iffy. My friend told me later that it is not very safe and they avoid this spot. Sad. read more

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Visited Discovery Park this weekend for Golden Sky Country Music Festival, and it was a lot of fun! I've never been to a festival at Discovery Park before; although, I know that the park has been the destination venue for many big events like After Shock. To my pleasant surprise, Discovery Park was very easy to navigate! The event set up made the festival reachable whether you were paying to park, arriving by ride share, or taking public transportation in. The grounds were well kept, but all the grass was dead. I know in the past that events have been cancelled due to flooding, and the location is big but not optimal due to weather conditions. Because Discovery Park is right next to the American River, I noticed fog creeping in as the night went on. It was cold, but a nice relief from the heat earlier in the day. I'm sure I'll be back for another event, and am glad that the park is big enough to host a festival of this size and popularity! It's part of what makes living in Sacramento so much fun. read more

Discovery Park - Golden Sky Day 3 - Parks Near Me - Sacramento, California

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During festivals. It's fun. It's clean and neat. However I'd be very careful of the place. It's not clean. Sometimes violent people in the area. Trash and needles in places. Not the safest place for kids and families. read more

I've been to several events at this location. Each has been wonderful though of course that is more to do with the event peeps than the location itself. So with this location, I really like the set up. It is a perfect sized venue to hold festivals of all sorts. The only down side is that there is no onsite parking. While paid parking is available just a 5-10 minute walk, it is pricey. Since I've only been here for concert events, I cannot comment on what it is like outside of that. read more

Discovery Park - Parks Near Me - Sacramento, California

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The park itself is kind of pointless except for the rivers and the unique endemic species of yellow-billed magpies, which live there in great numbers. The park is $7 per car to enter. we entered on a Friday at 10am. When we arrived we were greeting by beautiful magpies as there was no one there except employees. Within 5 minutes of enjoying the solitude, a park truck towing a gas powered leaf blower drove by and parked right near us. The birds scattered. Shortly after that a city dump truck came and dumped what appeared to be the remnants of a homeless camp next to several large dumpsters in the parking lot. The truck drove away and left the large pile of debris in the lot without immediately cleaning it up. The views were OK but the park is basically a large parking lot with picnic areas. If it weren't for the unique birds I think $7 would have been a rip off. Also, it was hard to enjoy the beauty of nature while the leaf blower truck circled endlessly around us, although there were hardly any leaves to blow. read more

This was the first time I've been to Discovery Park. Supposedly the city of Sacramento transit worked together to avoid additional cars in the area. IMO, the park was cumbersome to walk through from event to event. The transit worked out pretty good until the end of the evening. We waited nearly an hour for the metro to pick us up. Supposedly they were waiting on buses from the event. Not acceptable. They should've ran two Metro trains to Folsom. This faux pas made for an extremely long night. Didn't get home until after 1 AM. read more

Discovery Park - Parks Near Me - Sacramento, California

We like to launch the boat here when the river is full. The tide is higher at the beginning of summer, but it is always incredibly packed. A lot of people back their boats down and do not have the same boat curtesy as other boat launches. It gets packed and people wait around after tying their boat up. It does get very shallow and it will scrape up your prop if you are not careful. There are bathrooms that are a tad dirty, but tons of parking and places to load and unload the boat. There is a fee when coming into the park, pay upfront to avoid a ticket. read more

This was a horrible experience. There were homeless and garbage everywhere. No one was monitoring the boat launch. Jet skis and boats tied off and "parked" at the boat launch making it very difficult for others to launch or bring their boats out of the water. It took an hour to get our boat to the dock only to pull it out because the water was too low and there was some large piece of metal under water about 30 feet from the dock that already damaged several other boaters propeller. Tempers were flaring and people were yelling profanities at each other. There was no security to be seen anywhere at the boat launch or the entire park. We wanted to get our money back but the park toll booth was unmanned when we left. Discovery park should be a safe and maintained park facility, but it's not! Where's our tax payer dollars going? California has a $97 billion surplus! read more

I've only visited Discovery Park for the Aftershock festival so I can't speak to its peaceful nature since I was surrounded by head bangers and metal music but I do think it was a lovely venue for a concert. It was small but not too small and felt intimate enough to where I didn't feel like a small fish in a big park when trying to migrate from one end of the park to the other. The park has a lot of trees, what can I really say except parks should have trees? Overall, I wouldn't come here just to marinate because Sac is far from where I live however I shall prob make my return when Metallica headlines the festival next year! Thanks for a grand old time, Discovery! read more

Decent park to do outdoorsy type of activities like archery or axe throwing. Archery range is a row of haystack and there are sometimes bushes with homeless sleeping in them behind... If you want to have a picnic I'd probably go elsewhere. I wouldn't trust sitting on the benches, they were littered with trash and who knows what else has been on there. I didn't see a park ranger anywhere. I'm not sure about parking but I went on a Monday afternoon and there was no fee. It's a giant park with a lot of wasted potential, if it was a little cleaner and safer I'd probably give this park a higher rating. read more

Great park! Not sure how to feel as a venue for large multi stage concerts. I attended Monster Energy's Aftershock Festival October 21-22, 2017 Getting there was fairly easy using Uber from our hotel. Getting home the first night wasn't to bad. There were limited open streets and a lot of streets were closed one way but open the other. The second night was a very different story. We had to walk about a mile to get to our Uber pick up location. Other venues we have been to have specific in and out for taxi/Uber drop off and pick up making it very easy to get to and from. Maybe something to look at into future events. Lay out was alright. Set was kind of in an awkward triangle configuration. One stage (BlackCraft) was immediately to the left as you walked into the event. All around was food and merch vendors. Next the the BlackCraft stage right in the middle of the venue was the VIP area. And on the other side of that was the Monster stage. In the far back corner after a few more food and merch vendors was the Capitol/Cyco stage. We had VIP so it was nice not have to walk around our sectioned off area which to get from the BlackCraft to the Monster stage was quite a walk. The VIP section was nice. It was shaded had some out door couches for people to sit it and watch the stages on either side which had the bigger named bands on. There was the same food and beer options inside the VIP as GA. Only advantage is that the lines were a lot shorter! And for most of the day the area was nicely shaded so we were able to get out of the shade for the warm late October weekend. There were plenty of port-a-potties located around the area and if there was a line it moved very quickly. And for the two days that we were there I think I saw the company who takes care of them cleaning them three or four times over the two days. So they were rarely gross as one might expect for a large event. There were was a few marijuana tents (they weren't selling anything other than shirts and other swag), FxCK Cancer, Monster Energy, Rock for Rescue - Rescue Me and a music experience booths where you could buy merch, get free products, and enter to win signed memorabilia or meet various artist and celebs. Shannon Gunz of SXM Octane was at the Rescue Me tent. We had some amazing food! And we were able to find something for everyone and we never ate the same thing twice... Which was really nice because when you are eating two or three times while you are there you can get burned out on burgers and hot dogs fast (I've had that happen at other events). I'd like to see the sets on each stage a with a little more time in between. They over lapped a bit so you had to leave the end of one show to make it to the next stage to get a good spot before they started. If there was just another 5-10 minutes in between sets that would allow one stage to end before the next started. Looking forward to next year's event. Thanks for a great show and a great time. read more

Boyfriend and I are visitors to Sac, so we rented Jump bikes and rode along they American a River including through Discovery Park. There were so many homeless, so much trash, and even abandoned Jump bikes (who would do that?). It was a beautiful day and we expected a nice ride. Instead it was sad and unpleasant. read more

I was here on 10/22/17 (tonight) for the Monster Energy Aftershock Festival. It's hardly walking distance from the hotel we are currently staying at but it is well worth walking to and from the park. We wanted to get an Uber but changed our minds after almost every street was blocked off. I like how the Blackcraft Stage was right next to the entrance -- I got to see In This Moment perform on that stage right after I entered the venue. It's a really long walk from the Blackcraft Stage to the other stages at the park (ie Monster Energy Stage) and there are a bunch of merch tables and beer tents. I even entered a raffle to win a signed guitar from Chris Kael of Five Finger Death Punch -- unfortunately I did not win that guitar. The weather was perfect but a little breezy. I'll probably come back for next years event. read more

You ever wanna just get up and go for a DISCOVERY? Yes! Then get on down or up here now. There is ALOT of things you can do here with family, friends, or even yourself. 1. Bike riding from here to folsom on the bike trail. 2. Horse riding (bring your own only, non here but it is ok for them to come.) Seen people riding them and there rements left behind. 3. Boats, kayak, ski do, what ever you wanna do to float your self around the water. 4. Bows and arrows, they have a section of about 10 archery targets (hay barrels). 5. Fishing, get your arms ready for many locations. I know there is sturgeon in the water not sure what else might be lurking around. There has been sitings of seals, and i believe a whale made it close to here a few years back. 6. Nature, get your spy glasses or binoculars ready for the many different birds, and animals you can find. 7. Many areas open for family games of soccer, backyard baseball, tag, football, volleyball, but what ever you choose bring everything you need, as all they supply is the vast land to do it. 8. Swimming, be SAFE, whatch your kids and pay attention to the different currents swooping through. Different times of the years and levels of water make a huge difference. The spot that is dedicated to swimming has 2 channels that meet up. They do have life vests for free to use. BRING THEM BACK WHEN DONE!! See my pics. 9. Picnic, plenty of tables, and grills for BBQ, remember to bring charcoal no propane grills here, unless you bring your own propane grill. 10. They do have a spot for overnight campers, not sure on camping in a tent though. 11. They hold some festivals here too, check first before you come they close it down for them only. If no to discovering new things, well just stay at home and think of something else to do or not. The park is open year round from dusk till dawn, with a daily $5 for parking or you can buy a pass for the year at $50, which allows you togo many more locations. The prices for boats/trailers and for other things Check out this for more info about discovery park http://www.regionalparks.saccounty.net/Parks/Pages/DiscoveryPark.aspx Check out the pics others have posted for more fun stuff and things to see. There is a lot of full sized restrooms located all around the park i can think of atleast 4. Plus during the summer times they have added porto potties to accommodate more people. Reminder: becareful and remember your surroundings weather your in the water swimming or boating, walking or riding a bike or horse. Have fun, make some new discoveries, be safe and explore the great outdoors! :) read more

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First off if you want to park here it's $5 and it's cash only. When I pay $5 I expect my vehicle to be secure, the park to be fairly clean, with water and restrooms aplenty. But no, the facilities were closed with port-a-potties placed in few places round the area. No water except for drinking fountains. Nice. This park might serve its purpose as a starting point for cycling around American River parkway, but for walking it is very disappointing. Either direction takes you to the trail crowded with cyclist and runners. Not exactly the perfect scenario if you have small kids and just came out to pleasurably stroll. To make things worse the park is dirty with garbage everywhere and filled with homeless. There was a patrol car going around which made me feel safer but I still had a slight concern if my vehicle will be broken into. The only reason that I might come back here is with my bicycle to do the bike trail. As far as walking there are many better and safer options out there. That don't charge $5 for parking. And if they do then they at least accept credit cards so I don't have to drive 2 miles to the ATM. read more

This place is not so good right now for most people but I still gave it s try. The river is over flooded because it rained more than usual this year. Over the bridge looks amazing tho! read more

Discovery Park - Parks Near Me - Sacramento, California

Me and the fams love going out there to shoot our bows. We always have a great time and the other people who come out and shoot are always nice. We make a habit of hunting arrows we and others have lost at the end of the day. Got a good size collection going now. Looking forward to making it back out soon. read more

Cost $5 per car. The beaches were very dirty. Trash everywhere including dirty diapers. People are friendly but the trash is too much for me to accept. Also there are homeless people all over and I even saw a drug deal happening. If you stay on the beach, it's safe but cannot stress the dirtiness. I will not be returning here ever again. read more

I've lived in Sac for almost 5 years now and I just visited Discovery Park for the first time. Its not difficult getting to the entrance of the park in which I paid $5 (per car) for the entrance fee. I pulled into the first right/parking lot. It's a long strip with one sided parking spaces; Not a fan of the parking since it's limited. Of course, you can cross the bridge for more parking spaces and access to the river. It was a sunny late afternoon on a Friday and this park was packed. I came with a group of my girl cousins and spent the day drinking (not sure if it's permitted but eff it), obnoxiously loud music, and stuffing our faces (munchies like no other)! I left out a star because I definitely need to come back and explore this park more! But definitely bring your family, hang out and dip your crusty toes in the cold water. read more

I have come here every year since Monster Aftershock has been playing. I will say over the past few times they have drastically improved the venue and layout of the part. But it still gets very dirty and dusty, people at the events just do not care leave stuff all over. However the music is great and very worth the experience at least once. read more

This past Saturday, a few of us decided to search out an adventure and after realizing how difficult it is to locate a place to park and enjoy the river, we found ourselves at Discovery Park. I was pretty excited to check this place out. It's so big and I have driven thru and past it so many times. I wasn't surprised that there was a fee to park, but it was a little higher than I expected. Once we pulled up and found a parking space, we hauled our chairs, towels and ice chest down the steep embankment toward the river thinking that we would at least be able to find a nice spot to chill. Ugh... this place is so dirty. Dirty as in gross. As in, broken beer bottles, cigarette butts, torn up dirty clothes, old used bbq charcoals randomly strung about and what appeared to be a broken tail light of some sort??? Eww. I know this park is more known for boating and "kickin' it" but you would think paying $5 just to get thru the gate would mean someone is going around picking up the trash. I did think the rope swing was a nice touch, but overall, I don't think I will be back here to play in the water unless I am floating around on a boat. People, please pick up your trash and have a little respect for your city's parks. read more

I have mixed feelings about Discovery Park. I feel like this place has so much potential. It is so massive, green, plenty of shade and is right by the river. Unfortunately, homeless people and disrespectful visitors have really ran this place into the ground. My first impression of this place was great! It is so massive and because of this we had no problem finding a spot to lay our blankets down and let our pup off the leash. It was an extremely hot day but the plentiful shade helped us stay cool and relax. I love that there are restrooms and water fountains throughout! The not so good, the cigarette butts, trash and broken glass-EVERYWHERE. It seems that there is little to no patrol here and therefore it is a free-for-all! There are more homeless and sketchy people than families or couples. It is pretty uncomfortable and I can't imagine coming here alone. Again, this place has so much potential. There is a camp ground, a shooting range and so much space! It is green and if you remove the trash and some of the sketchy people, Discovery park is a true comodity that could really be a go to spot in our community. Overall, I understand why people say this place is a bust. It's not the most enjoyable experience to have people staring at your smartphone while you're taking pictures of your dog... not knowing if they are going to jack you. It is also not a good feeling to have to skip broken beer bottles or worry about your dogs paws while running through the grass. But if you can find a good spot here, it is a solid place to spend the day! I don't know if funding is the issue or what but I really hope the city of Sacramento will take into account how much potential this place has and give it a facelift. If this park had a facelift, our community would be in for a real treat! read more

Last year, we used the 'Red Bud' picnic area for the location of our annual Gemini birthday party. For $200, we acquired the location, which included an alcohol permit. For an additional $25, we grabbed the amplified sound permit so our DJ friends could wreck shop. The Red Bud location is a great location for amplified sound, as it's near the freeway, has plenty of shaded parking, a large canopy, BBQs, and tons of space, and is right near the river. All of our guests had a great time and complimented us on the location. Of course, when you bring liquor to the park (even with a permit), you're asking for the Rangers to harass you. This location was no different, as we had one come by several times to make sure we weren't being unruly. I'm happy to report, though, that this year the park is notifying the rangers which picnic sites are permitted the day of the event. It's great news for us, as we're looking forward to using this location again. read more

Great archery range that's perfect for beginners and experts alike. I recently (2 weeks ago) started shooting here at the archery range and am really liking it. It's never crowded and you don't see unsupervised kids running around. I've spent many hours there, and so far have never had an unpleasant experience. Although there are homeless people around, they never get in the way. The range extends to a maximum range of 100 meters, which is more than enough for most shooters. I've been told this is the range where a lot of competitions are held for recurve and compound matches. I'm become such a fan that I bought an annual park pass to shoot. Without a pass it's $5 per day (but the pass can be used at any Sac county park) read more

Discovery Park - Archery range at Discovery Park (there are about 5 more targets that aren't in the pic) - Parks Near Me - Sacramento, California

Douche overload. Not sure if the pounding headache was from all the beer I drank or if it was from hearing adult contemporary/rap/country simultaneously blaring at 500 decibels right into my ear from these hosers who are so in debt with their 40 thousand dollar ski boat and C Class Mercedes that they need to surround themselves with nipple tassles and cheap booze to keep themselves from crying at night at their own insecurities and the leering bankruptcy just beyond the horizon. And breathe. My dad's boat is a 21 foot Chapparelle (yes it's paid off) and this is probably the best place to launch, with the wide launch area that can fit about four trucks comfortably, and long docks on each side to tie off the boat. The current is a little sketch sometimes in here though and you might get pulled around if you're trying to come in slowly. Beware of trying to pull out at 7PM, everyone else is trying to as well, and no, they don't turn off their music. Also, I wish jet skiers weren't such assholes. read more

The best place to launch a boat on the Sacramento River. When it is 100 plus in Sacramento, which is pretty always is, there is nothing better than spending the day out on the river. Unfortunately the river attracts douches like moths to the flame. You have to drive miles downstream just to get away from the constant blaring of music and drunken idiots smashing their boats into each other. Discovery Park is huge, so it's a good place for a picnic or football game after you are done in the water. There is always plenty of parking and enough open space where you won't be encroaching on the people around you. Discovery Park is a great place to enjoy a hot summer day, just be prepared to dodge a herd of tools. read more

Discovery park is great. I don't know what Dan S. was talking about. I didn't meet any such unsavory characters during our pleasant visit there today. Though it was a Friday, not a Saturday, so that may have had something to do with it. The park was beautiful, well maintained, safe, and seemed surprisingly underutilized. There were acres of perfectly mowed grass and picnic tables that were entirely empty. There are all kinds of cool little trails for kids to run around in and plenty of little "secret beaches" to find (which are, shockingly, not covered in beer cans). Standing out on the corner of the isthmus and seeing the confluence of the American and Sacramento rivers is a really unique experience. The main beach is small but nice and not too crowded when we went. And there are all kinds of picturesque locations. Overall a great place for a barbecue or really any kind of outing. My wife and I are talking about doing a bike ride from old town to discovery park, having a barbecue, taking a dip in the river, then biking back to old town for an ice cream. What a perfect day that would be! All in all this place is truly a treasure in sacramento. And just a few short minutes from downtown. $5 is a small price to pay for something like this. A lot of other cities aren't so lucky. read more

I was looking for a beach in the Sacramento area since moving up here from the Bay and I have to say that I was impressed and satisfied. I had a good time watching my boys play in the sand and wade in the water. I also had a good time watching the boaters and the jetskiers have a good time in the water. Relaxing, Soothing, Healing, Easy Breezy!! read more

Saw some guys drop off around 25 cats at the park today. Than began to feed them, which attracted several geese and skunk. Very odd scene. Once the man left and proceeded to drive off in his van, another came by and started to feed them as well. Discovery Park you don't disappoint. read more

Discovery Park - Man feeding cats, skunk, and geese. - Parks Near Me - Sacramento, California

Especially considering how big a park this is despite being right next to downtown Sac, this park is a nice place. I agree that the corner of the isthmus is the place to go. There's a nice lawn where you can watch paddle boats lazily float by. Bring a good book and you're all set for an afternoon. If only they didn't charge for parking....here's hoping that money goes back into the park! read more

Easily Sac's greatest natural asset. This is a beautiful, tucked away nature lover's spot just outside of Natomas that connects you to the real world via the American River Trail. Arriving here on a bicycle is like a Viking arriving to Valhalla after a treacherous trip through epic Nordic battles (the ART equivalent would just be weathering the grueling bikepath trip required to arrive in DP). This is the place where postulate turns to proof that Sacramento has more trees per capita than any other city in the US, it's just gorgeous riparian mangrove-y splendidness that will have beautiful cool water to wade in on a hot day. Take walks, float on a raft, eat wine and cheese on the little "beach" or just soak in the rays on a hot summer's day (daze). One of my favorite things to do is to grab a book and perch up on a overhang with a view of downtown buildings in the distance, and just let my feet hang off the cliff. So relaxing and renewing, and it's free! Ride your bike here. The beauty just must be experienced as you arrive in by bike. Parking for a car is usually $5. Restrooms for both boat launchers and the general public are available, and if you are on bike, you also have direct access to Old Sac. read more

Awesome boat ramp. Other then the bums that hang out here and ask for beer constantly. It's a great ramp. I pay for the season pass which is $100 a year. The parking does get a little crazy on Holiday weekends. Gotta get there early if you want a real parking spot. Otherwise your going to park in the overflow lot which is dirt and grass all the way in the back of the park. On the other hand there's a great bike trail that goes all the way to Folsom lake. A long ride but great cardio and very beautiful to look at. Great place for birthday party's also. Lots and lots of open grassy areas. read more

BOATERS BEWARE: the receiver hitch pin was stolen from my vehicle while parked with my boat trailer in the Discovery Park parking lot. A broken off key was also removed from our door lock on the truck. Thanks to some Good Samaritan boat folks, we were able to get a new pin and get back on the road. There is definitely not enough security at this launch ramp, and forget about leaving your vehicle overnight. If anybody knows of a secure launch ramp at which you can feel safe leaving your vehicle overnight, please post a reply! read more

Don't walk, wade or swim without shoes, used needles have been strewn throughout the park. Homeless are trashing the park and quite a bit of the trash is making its way into our rivers. Mindless government officials just keep allowing it to happen. I take my dollars to another county where I can feel much safer. read more

Love the park but the porta potties are disgusting and FULL! Ew! And I found two large pieces of broken glass in the sand. Common Sac - we can do better! read more

Discovery Park - Full porta-potties - EW! - Parks Near Me - Sacramento, California

This is people-watching central. I think the combination of water and shade bring all the people who cant afford air conditioning out here to sit under the trees and watch people launching their boats. Although, I do admit it is funny to watch people try to launch boats who have no idea what they are doing. The park has it's share of homeless people, but I've never had a problem with any of them. In fact I remember a few years ago I met a guy named Richard who (about 30 years my elder) went to the same high school as me in the bay area. I learned WAY too much about his life! Anyways, always good times here - just keep your car locked up! read more