This is a beautiful trail through the forest that is rapidly recovering from the Caldor Fire! Nice…read moreeasily accessible trail (all paved) skirts the edge of a large canyon, with views to the East and Southeast. Parking area is small.

Discount Pricing for local 501c organizations. Plus possible allowance of a small number of RV'sread more

My daughter and I stayed for two nights in a teepee, and we felt quite safe--especially comforting…read morefor two women traveling together. Greg, the camp manager, was very considerate and responsive, quickly taking care of anything we needed. The bathrooms were very clean, and the beds came with mats and fitted sheets. We brought our own blankets, but it still felt cold at night--next time, I'll definitely bring sleeping bags. There's a beautiful hike nearby, and our teepee was just a short walk from the river, which made the experience even more special. The lounge area was a fun bonus, filled with games and a ping-pong table--we had a great time playing table tennis together. Overall, it was a peaceful and relaxing stay. The staff were kind, caring, and polite. I absolutely recommend this place.

This is a beautiful trail with asphalt the entire way. Be ready for a hill climb if you're heading…read morefrom El Dorado to the end of the trail. The bonus is you get to ride down on your return trip.

Do people get on your nerves? Do you ever feel drained of energy after spending time around people?…read moreLOL! Well perhaps you need some soul refreshment in nature, doing something physical, away from people. Look no further than the El Dorado Trail. And if you like the scent of forest, this is a great place to get it without having to drive fully into the Sierras. It's a 30 min/ 25 mile drive from Carmichael. There are 4-6 parking areas where you can hook onto the trail. I used 4451 Missouri Flat Rd, Placerville, (free, no time limit) and went east. Dont make me regret telling you this, but if you're lucky, you might get a glimpse of the Long-tailed Weasel in this general area. Google maps shows two port-a-potty units in the parking lot but they're gone. The one located about 1-3 miles east of downtown Placerville is still there. There's a public restroom on Main St in downtown Placerville. The path is mostly smooth but there's patches of lifted asphalt, so be careful. I used the trail as a bicyclist so my review is from that perspective. The route for a road bicycle is about 23 miles if you add Placerville Rd and Ray Lawyer (this "cat's claw" shape adds 3 miles and a good climb if you are turning left onto Ray Lawyer from Placerville Rd. The route starts out with a hint of downhill but then climbs steadily. Once you get to Halcon at the end of the paved route and you return on the same route, you'll be headed downhill. Be careful carrying speed, there's some inconsistencies with the pavement. And the two bridges that you cross are rustic styled and not smooth for a road bike. There's a third bridge, paved, that goes over El Dorado Freeway/50. The trail breaks up in a few places and you use the shoulder of the road to connect the sections of bike path. The trail is open to pedestrians, cyclists (non-motorized), and equestrians. There were very few trail users which I really liked. This is a good series of trails and if your tooling around downtown Placerville, it's a great way to walk off lunch!

Our first camping trip and I gotta say, it was pretty sweet to be right on the lake with our…read moreprivate entrance! Zero issues with geese (we had read that in other reviews) ... would be nice if the ground were flat ... but overall, it's a great lil spot! The diner staff ... 10 outta 10 ... great group of people!

Great beaches and nicely tucked away. Great campgrounds. I will go again for sure. Getting ready to…read morego to the lake today, The lake is beautiful.

This park is in downtown Placerville, CA. It's one of the prettiest neighborhood parks that I've…read moreever seen. Gorgeous aspen (or pine, one of those) trees surround the park. In its four acres is a lighted little league baseball field (home to the Hangtown League) complete with an electronic scoreboard and snack shack, play ground, picnic tables with bbq pits, and restrooms. The park is on Clark Street which is a narrow neighborhood gravel road. Drive cautiously because the street turns into hybrid part parking lot and street. On game days, the parking lot fills up quickly. When that happens, parking on Clark Street is scarce and the best bet is to park on Pacific Street and hike in. There are some handicapped parking spots located at the far end of the parking lot behind the little snack shack. From that end, there is a walking ramp that leads to all areas of the park including the walking path around the back field. So if you have folks in your group that would benefit from using the ADA ramps, it's best to unload from back there. Besides that access point, there are stairs, with hand rails, in the front parking lot. The parking lot has only one entrance and exit point. A big shout out to the Placerville Rotary Club for creating this park and helping to maintain it. Great community partnership.

We camped at the American River Resort and took part in the river rafting. It's $120/person for 4…read morehours session. The first two hours were kind of boring, we were just floating around the river, the last 45 minutes were really fun with lot of adrenaline. Our captain Luke from South Africa was fun and he even brought his speaker to entertain us with songs. The pictures taken by the prof were amazing, we're having fun.

It needs new management. We ask them , prior to paying for…read more2 days , if they had a swimming pool for the 3 kids that we had with us , and they said "YES", then after we set up our trailer we all went to the pool and they said that it's closed for the season , so we asked for our money back so that we could move to a place with a pool and they said , "NO REFUNDS", even though we had only been there for 2 hours. Also , the spots are small , poorly equipped and mosquito infested. I would not recommend this place to anyone.

We had an amazing experience on the south fork of the American river. Our guide was knowledgeable…read moreand friendly, the weather was beautiful, and the river itself is gorgeous. They do a very good job of organizing the day, with a lunch spread that is surprisingly edible. I loved being able to swim a bit in the river, and wish there was more time to do that. The rafting itself was fun, the class 3 rapids were exciting and our group managed to not fall out of the raft due to the expert navigation of our guide. I am looking forward to going back and experiencing some class 4 rapids.

My family of 3 booked a 2-day South Fork trip and it was absolutely fantastic. Alec, our guide, was…read moreinformative, professional, personable, friendly, and lots of fun. He had lots of knowledge about the California gold rush and it was nice to learn about it as an adult who didn't grow up in CA (I'm sure my 12yo loved learning about it too). While we camped at Earthtrek, it was super helpful that our trip included breakfast, 2 lunches (one lunch mid-rafting trip), and dinner. All meals were delicious and it was nice that there were gluten free options. The OARS site is spacious, with clean facilities, and a small shop for items. Now on to the rafting experience! For some background, my husband was the only one who had ever done it so my kiddo and I were newbies. Along with another kiddo and adult, we rafted through class 1-3 rapids and I never felt that we were not safe (despite me being the weakest swimmer in the family). Alec was truly a guide in every sense of the word. He prepped us before taking on the rapids - gave us the route we would take, what to expect in terms of how we were to paddle and what we had to do. We played some fun boat games and spent some time floating in the river which my husband and son loved. Also included were the always fun brain teaser riddles that had all of us entertained during the floating portions of our trip. After completing the class 3 rapids and all staying in the raft, we felt on top of the world and wanted to do more! If you have ever thought about trying white water rafting, do it - you won't regret it! It's truly an experience and a great time in nature with the family. OARS is a professional and inclusive company, with great guides!

Sometimes you have an experience that you know will stick with you for the rest of your life. This…read morewas one of those times. We did a two day south fork trip, with a stop for the night on the river bank. Our guide Cryin' Bryan(just kidding Brian!!) and bonus gear guy Gator, were absolutely amazing. The were kind, helpful, had the best stories and cooked the best food. We did 21 miles of river over two days and it was unbelievable. Things we learned on this trip... -Gator taught me how to make a camping mocha(more like chocolate coffee when I made it!) with instant cocoa mix, coffee, creamer and water. -A tortilla wrap with PB&J and trail mix is the thing of dreams. -The front right seat of the raft is the 'hot' seat(or wet seat) and you will get hammered repeatedly. Haha. -Camping on the side of the river is magic. Pure. Magic. -Hospital bar has its name for a reason. -Composting toilets in the woods smell like a gerbil cage. -Brian's love of Star Wars and pineapple fried rice lead me to believe we could be real life friends. -You can make lifelong friends out of strangers you meet on a rafting trip. The meals they provided were amazing. Well beyond normal camping fare. For sure a perk with the trip. With things like chicken salad pitas, pancakes, sandwich wraps and fajitas, we were never hungry. We upgraded to the canvas tent they have at the campground for the first night and it was wonderful. The little front porch and getting to hear the river while we slept was magic. The newly upgraded bathrooms were probably the nicest I've seen at a rustic camp ground. The shower stalls are outside, but each one has a locking door with the shower stall and a little changing area with hooks and a bench(and the rain shower heads were great, but know the water pressure isn't the hardest, but not the worst either). When the 'Boss Man' picked us up from the river on the last day, it was really neat to get to chat with him. He asked for anything we think would add to the trip, and the only thing we can think of would be to bring along a yard game for the overnight trips, like ladder-ball or something for on the river. But there is absolutely nothing we would change. Enjoy my million pictures. I really couldn't pick and choose what to show, so I showed it all! We can't wait to go back!!

We enjoyed the half day class II-III+ trip. Everything went smoothly from start to end. There were…read morechill about people being late: I think they might leave a buffer because people are always a bit late. I really appreciated they had a page linked after you book of all the things to know before the trip. Getting ready was smooth, and the guide was helpful on the way with paddling instructions and questions. We dropped into the water at two points and also got to switch seats so everyone tried being at the front. The water is extremely cold. There are two photo spots where they took pictures you can purchase. Lastly the bus to get back went great, but they kind of left us alone right after we got back to camp, even though we had some questions and were going to leave a tip (we left our wallets in the cars).

My friend and I stopped here for a ride in a kayak for an hour. Neither of us have ever done that…read morebefore so we figured it would be something fun to do. The verdict? It was a lot of fun. Relaxing, relatively easy, and a decent early morning workout. The lady at the counter was amazing. Great customer service and a joy to talk to. We definitely plan to come back next time we come out and likely might even charter a boat for fishing or something.

Absolutely incredible experience with Capitan Andrew! He…read morewas so knowledgeable, his expertise really shined throughout! Laid back & friendly attitude. We caught the limit in less than 2 hours. He ensured helping us make memories & was a great photographer capturing all our moments. Can't recommend him enough! If you're looking for a charter to have the best experience, Captain Andrew is your guy!

Good shit. Awesome…read moreguides, thrilling rapids, and stunning views. An unforgettable adventure! ‍

WOW WOW WOW. There are not enough ways to express how awesome this entire trip was. Audrey (the…read moreguide who's raft I stayed on), Dustin (the Team Leader), Mcclure, and Roman will forever get my praise for how they exceeded my expectations. This was my first time going both whitewater rafting and camping, and the entire time I felt taken care of, safe, and catered to in ways I hadn't even expected. I don't know how many times I shouted "Team Audrey!" as she expertly navigated difficult rapids. Roman was the guide responsible for riding ahead of us with all our cargo and setting up camp, and every time I was more and more impressed with the breathtaking set up he did with all of our tents, eating areas, and shaded spots. Dustin was a worthy team leader who made sure our trip went smoothly and on time, and was awesome to talk to and joke around with. And McClure was a thorough teacher and guide who is clearly passionate about what he does! I've noticed some reviews of people complaining about things out of Tributary's control like the bathroom quality or the heat or the other parties that would camp nearby. And even though that is technically not Tributary's juriscdiction, I still felt as if the four guides with us did everything they could to anticipate these problems and lessen their impact on our trip. Like they had a handwashing station for us, and had plenty of shaded areas for us to rest in. Not to mention they really took care of the quality of food we ate, giving gluten free and healthy options as well as snacks and drinks for us. Audrey, Dustin, Roman, and Mcclure. You four have a forever client in me. It is because of you guys I have such memorable stories that I will be telling until I am old. I can not thank you guys enough.