Central California is located on the west coast of the United States. This section covers the area of California between Sacramento in the north to Bakersfield in the south. It includes the cities of the San Francisco Bay area, the Central Valley, San Joaquin Valley, Napa and Sonoma, Lake Tahoe and the Central Coast.

This is a particularly beautiful region of the United States. The stretch along the coast includes stunning cliffs with crashing waves. Other areas have redwood forests, picturesque vineyards, huge agricultural regions and the soaring peaks or the Sierra-Nevada Mountains. There are several National Parks located in Central California, including Yosemite National Park, Kings Canyon National Park and Sequoia National Park.

If you are looking for recreational trails for walking, running and cycling, the San Francisco Bay area has several paved and unpaved paths for a closer look at the waterfront along the bay, the beaches and the hills of the Presidio. There are large urban areas all around San Francisco Bay that have their own trail systems and there is the Bay Trail that has a network of paved and unpaved trails that stretch over 500 miles in 47 cities and 9 counties.

Sacramento has the American River Parkway which is a 32-mile long paved path the extends from Downtown Sacramento to the City of Folsom on the east side of the urban area.

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Recreational Trails by location

Click on a link below to see maps, trail descriptions and other information for that area