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Adventure Sports in Sacramento

By: Kris Koonar

Despite living in California for years, many people here have never visited Chico. Chico is surrounded on three sides by farmland and situated at the Sierra foothills 90 miles north of Sacramento, off the main thoroughfares. Unless you are going up Highway 32 to Lake Almanor or Lassen National Park, or your destination is Chico, there would be little reason for anyone to go there. Hence, this charming and genial university town, with its rich outdoor opportunities and local attractions, are missed by many.

Chico has the third largest community park in the nation. It also has an active city center, a pulsating and flourishing campus, porch-profuse older localities, and an enthusiastic population of cyclists, runners and outdoor buffs bustling through the city.

Chico Bidwell Park: Bidwell Park, which now spans 3,750 acres, starts as a streamside forest close to the city center, with playgrounds and swimming areas, and runs 12 miles northeast into the center of a wild and deep canyon.

There are two parts to Bidwell Park: one is Upper Bidwell and the other, Lower Bidwell. Upper Bidwell has many rocky paths for mountain biking and tracks with marvelous views and rocky swimming holes. Lower Bidwell has smooth bike paths and wood-chip running tracks under the shade of oak and sycamore trees.

Chico, famous for being a Two-Wheeled Town: Chico is well known as the two-wheeled capital for cycling. With innumerable bike lanes within the town, miles of neighboring farm roads, extensive climbs up the foothills for hikers, and plenty of dirt tracks in Upper Bidwell for mountain biking, Chico has plenty on offer for two-wheeled fans of every kind. Chico was selected as the Most Bicycle Friendly City in the nation by Bicycle magazine in 1997.

According to fat-tire explorer Chuck Bodfish Elliot, who planned the first off-road bike race event in 1976, the Bidwell Bump, which was a bone-jarring one over rutted terrain strewn with lava rock, Chico was the location of the first off-road bike race.

Chico offers adventure sports enthusiasts more fun with Water, Snow and Rock: Apart from the cycling, outdoor enthusiasts can find much more on offer in Chico. The Sacramento River, which flows down the valley only five miles west of the city, is an ideal place for kayakers and canoeists. The Butte Creek, which is close by, offers beginner whitewater kayakers a picturesque six-mile run in seasons like spring and early summer.

Take a Hike: Feather Falls, which is at 640 feet, and is the sixth highest waterfall in the U.S., is one of the main attractions of Butte County. The trail, which is a seven-mile roundtrip, starts from Lumpkin Road, which is above Lake Oroville.

Adventure trails for Rock Climbers: Rock climbers will come across an abundance of remarkable granite in the Feather River canyon. Backpackers can make a trip into the Ishi Wilderness, Lassen Park, or the Trinity Alps. For backcountry skiers, some of the best and deepest snow in the state can be found at Mt. Lassen, which is just an hour and a half from Chico.

Article Source: http://www.bluearticles.com


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