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Print Friendly MapCommunity support has been integral to the creation of the Clovis Old Town Trail and Sugar Pine Trail, two adjoining rail-trails that link the communities of Clovis and Fresno. Joggers, cyclists, businesses and multiple environmental organizations all came together to support the rail-trails, which connect many existing area resources, including shops, restaurants and parks. Through tree planting efforts organized by the Coalition for Community Trails, about 4,400 trees planted along the trails offer users shade and beautiful scenery.
The Clovis Old Town Trail begins near Fresno Yosemite International Airport on the southern edge of Clovis and continues north along Clovis Avenue. The trail skirts many residential and commercial areas, with easy access along the entire length. Shopping centers along Clovis Avenue, Shaw Avenue, Nees Avenue and Willow Avenue offer a variety of restaurants for convenient mid-trip meals.
A highlight along the Clovis Old Town Trail is Old Town Clovis itself—the trail's namesake—just west of the trail, between 4th and 5th Streets. The charming town center has been lovingly restored to an early 19th-century appearance, and a historical train depot, relocated from its original home approximately 1 mile south in Tarpey, occupies a prime downtown site at 4th Street and Clovis Avenue.
Additional highlights along the trail include the Clovis Rodeo Grounds, home to an annual April rodeo held since 1914, as well as Railroad Park on Peach Avenue and the connecting Dry Creek Trail at Minnewawa Avenue.
The Clovis Old Town Trail officially becomes the Sugar Pine Trail on Willow Avenue between Nees Avenue and Teague Avenue. Take that trail north along Willow Avenue and west along Shepherd Avenue through northern Fresno to eventually reach its terminus near the Shops at River Park.
To reach the southern trailhead in Clovis, from State Route 99, exit at SR 180E, proceed 7 miles and take Exit 63 (Clovis Avenue). Head north for 2.5 miles. The trailhead is on Clovis Avenue, 0.3 mile south of the intersection with Dakota Avenue. There is no parking at the trailhead, but you can park along Dakota Avenue.
Beautiful but the trail gets a little confusing around construction sites. Luckily, there were lots of people biking and running to give direction help.
I must admit, I put off cycling on this trail due to the tunnels along the way. I have a single speed 3-wheeler and any type of incline is a struggle, much more so than a single speed 2-wheeler. But, I have a friend who rides it regularly and enjoys it, that, and some of the pictures of the trail on the website are splendid and inviting. So, I included it with another trail I love and ride regularly. It was the first time I totaled over 20 miles in one day’s ride and I thoroughly enjoyed it, for the most part. I embraced courage and tackled every tunnel on the trail - there and back. I did notice that most, if not all the tunnels have a workaround trail that take you up to the street where from there you can cross the street and reconnect with the trail after the tunnel.
The first time I cycled the trail, I went from Alluvial and Peach to the end of the trail at roughly Dakota and Clovis Ave. I drove around the neighborhood I had once lived in and returned to the trail. What I found disrupting was having to stop at all the many streets within the Old Town area of Clovis and the rest of the trail in the main city of Clovis. I can see why other riders have made adverse comments regarding this issue. So, when taking the trail now, I will begin at one of three entrances and end each time when I come to Sierra Ave, at which point I turn around and go back. So, starting at Shepherd near Willow Ave. At Nees near N. Timmy Ave. Or, at Alluvial and Peach Ave. Stopping at Sierra Ave and turning around.
What I really like about the trail is that it is wide and flat. There are no tree roots popping up which make for a very rough ride. The trail is clean and on each side are trees and underbrush for much of the distance. When moving northward, the trail turns into more of a very wide sidewalk that runs through some housing areas, industrial areas and open country fields. Once you get to Shepherd Ave you are gifted a beautiful view of the nearby hills and the more distance mountains, along with some farmland, orchards, and vineyards - not yet victim to the swiftly spreading disease of the rapid building of houses, apartments and condominiums.
Along the path, you do have to stop at major streets. Some have street lights or stop signs. Others have added a button you can push that illuminates the path so that motorists know you are waiting to cross and they will stop and wait for you. The tunnels can be rather exciting! Going down one is a rush - an E ticket ride. Going back up though can be a workout if you aren’t riding a bike with gears. What I find helpful is to begin fast pedaling as soon as you are able before beginning your ascent. With the momentum the downward trail gives you, it is easier than you would think, however, those last few feet can be a real workout. The one thing I wish Clovis had done would have been to install lights inside the tunnels that would stay on 24/7. It is very dark, especially down the longer tunnels and you cannot always discern what or who is in the tunnel, which could make for a serious accident were you to run into a person or animal, or over broken glass, large rocks, or prickly tree limbs.
A nice feature, along the path that lies in the major area of Old Town Clovis and central Clovis, are emergency phones built into lamp-like poles - there is at least one that is not in working order, but many that are.
Each time I have been on the trail, it was not heavily trafficked and when you do come up on others, the path is wide enough to safely pass one another. I have seen folks walking their dogs, running, cycling skate boarding, walking, and using scooters. Not much wildlife on the trail, with the exception of birds, ground squirrels and red and gray tree squirrels.
If you continue north on the trail, you eventually will hook up with the Fresno Rail Trail and it can take you all the way to Woodward Park and end on Friant Rd.
I must admit, I put off cycling on this trail due to the tunnels along the way. I have a single speed 3-wheeler and any type of incline is a struggle, much more so than a single speed 2-wheeler. But, I have a friend who rides it regularly and enjoys it, that, and some of the pictures of the trail on the website are splendid and inviting. So, I included it with another trail I love and ride regularly. It was the first time I totaled over 20 miles in one day’s ride and I thoroughly enjoyed it, for the most part. I embraced courage and tackled every tunnel on the trail - there and back. I did notice that most, if not all the tunnels have a workaround trail that take you up to the street where from there you can cross the street and reconnect with the trail after the tunnel.
The first time I cycled the trail, I went from Alluvial and Peach to the end of the trail at roughly Dakota and Clovis Ave. I drove around the neighborhood I had once lived in and returned to the trail. What I found disrupting was having to stop at all the many streets within the Old Town area of Clovis and the rest of the trail in the main city of Clovis. I can see why other riders have made adverse comments regarding this issue. So, when taking the trail now, I will begin at one of three entrances and end each time when I come to Sierra Ave, at which point I turn around and go back. So, starting at Shepherd near Willow Ave. At Nees near N. Timmy Ave. Or, at Alluvial and Peach Ave. Stopping at Sierra Ave and turning around.
What I really like about the trail is that it is wide and flat. There are no tree roots popping up which make for a very rough ride. The trail is clean and on each side are trees and underbrush for much of the distance. When moving northward, the trail turns into more of a very wide sidewalk that runs through some housing areas, industrial areas and open country fields. Once you get to Shepherd Ave you are gifted a beautiful view of the nearby hills and the more distance mountains, along with some farmland, orchards, and vineyards - not yet victim to the swiftly spreading disease of the rapid building of houses, apartments and condominiums.
Along the path, you do have to stop at major streets. Some have street lights or stop signs. Others have added a button you can push that illuminates the path so that motorists know you are waiting to cross and they will stop and wait for you. The tunnels can be rather exciting! Going down one is a rush - an E ticket ride. Going back up though can be a workout if you aren’t riding a bike with gears. What I find helpful is to begin fast pedaling as soon as you are able before beginning your ascent. With the momentum the downward trail gives you, it is easier than you would think, however, those last few feet can be a real workout. The one thing I wish Clovis had done would have been to install lights inside the tunnels that would stay on 24/7. It is very dark, especially down the longer tunnels and you cannot always discern what or who is in the tunnel, which could make for a serious accident were you to run into a person or animal, or over broken glass, large rocks, or prickly tree limbs.
A nice feature, along the path that lies in the major area of Old Town Clovis and central Clovis, are emergency phones built into lamp-like poles - there is at least one that is not in working order, but many that are.
Each time I have been on the trail, it was not heavily trafficked and when you do come up on others, the path is wide enough to safely pass one another. I have seen folks walking their dogs, running, cycling skate boarding, walking, and using scooters. Not much wildlife on the trail, with the exception of birds, ground squirrels and red and gray tree squirrels.
If you continue north on the trail, you eventually will hook up with the Fresno Rail Trail and it can take you all the way to Woodward Park and end on Friant Rd.
Love the surroundings every time I go because it’s very clean and great breakfast spots in old town. I will say though when going in tunnels it’s hard to pick up speed because sometimes it’s crowded with people and some don’t respect the path ways.
Location: Clovis (Fresno), CA
Parking: Costco (Shaw & N. Clovis Ave)
Trail Condition: Excellent wide asphalt pathway. Well maintained.
Signage: Mostly the trail is easy to follow with except through the Old Clovis Town section. Up to that point the trail is wide asphalt with a solid white line down the middle. For about a block the trail becomes sidewalk near a school and Veterans Memorial Building. After that section it returns to the asphalt trail with white stripe. There are a number of great informational signs, little “train station” gazebos, and statues along the trail. There is even a count station showing trail usage (bikers and walkers, daily and this year) in the Old Town Clovis section. (See photo of count station in the Dry Creek Trail photos.)
Comments: We rode this to the point where we thought the north end is and the Sugar Pine Trail begins. Didn’t see any signage that defined the end of one and start of the other. Then on the return south we took the Dry Creek Trail out and back. To finish up rode to the southern end of the trail and back to parking. This trail surface was great and think must be fairly new. A number of walkers, runners and a few cyclists were encountered on the trail, not overwhelming. According to the trail counter, walkers way out number the bikers. A detractor to this trail is the number of major busy intersections that require stopping to wait for a walk signal to cross. The north end of the trail has fewer of these but does have a couple crossing with signaled cross walks requiring the press of a button to activate the warning signals, at least they aren’t at busy intersections. It is evident this trail is a rail-to-trail project. The greenway is very wide and flat. Without the many busy intersections to cross this would be a great rails-to-trails trail.
Great trail. Good lighting ,safe and clean. Good amenities such as Bike repair areas and tire pumps, bathrooms at the parks, well marked with safety crossings on small streets and the biggest bonus Emergency call boxes on the trail.
I run on this trail before sunrise several days a week. The trails are always clean and well-maintained. The lighting is great and I always feel safe.
I had a great job and walk here. Very safe and clean.
nice level paved trail good for jogging or biking mountain or road bike. easy and lots of store and shops along the way, parks, water restroom. There's a parking lot on the north end of the trail from Riverpark shopping center. I started at target parking lot at sierra vista mall in clovis. plenty of parking and safe..it also branches into others trails like the dry creek trail.. slight flooding spots if used in winter time but still easy. Cameras and lights on trails throughout. highly recommend break from the city life...
My inline speed skating team likes to skate this trail from the park on Sierra and Clovis all the way to Woodward where we take the Eaton trail up to copper and around back to a new extension of the trail way up on willow past Shepard. Also great for riding my bike and has gotten popular. There are changes to the trail where they finally connected the two so on the map west of Willow on Shepard you no longer cross the street but stay on the north side instead. Also the trail has a mid tail that extends north a mile or 2 past Shepard on Willow but some of the cross walks still have gaps as of 10/19/2010.
A 4 Star Trail. Attractive Extras. Well utilized in the cool of the evening.
Noel Keller, 3 Jun 10
I had a great ride on my Trikke today. My (one way) ride was 7.11 Miles from the park at Clovis Avenue and 1st Street (in Clovis) on the Clovis Old Town Trail north to the Sugar Pine Trail over to the River Park Shopping Center (In-N-Out Burger, Nees and Blackstone in Fresno). The trail is very well maintained and smooth. There are some areas with pine needles and loose dirt. The only "bad" transition is the turn at Willow and Shephard. There is no formal trail at the point. There is also a section of the Sugar Pine Trail between Shephard and Audubon that is locked between 10 PM and 6 AM.
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