Find the top rated cross country skiing trails in Antioch, whether you're looking for an easy short cross country skiing trail or a long cross country skiing trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a cross country skiing trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
The start of the trail by the fish viewing area is a FIRE TRAIL. The second half, after crossing the road, is paved asphalt. Unfortunately I showed up with my road bike and not my mountain bike, so my ride was a short one.
A friend and I rode this trail as part of a two-day bike ride in East Bay – riding the Iron Horse Trail and the Contra Costa Canal Trails. On the first day – we road mostly the Iron Horse and then rode the Eastern Section of the Canal Trail to the end and back. This section of the Canal trail started out a bit rough but only for a small portion – maybe 100 yards – then the surface was smooth and it was a great ride along the canal through nice neighborhoods. We spent the night near the intersection of the Iron Horse and the Canal Trail and rode the Western Section the next day before heading back down the Iron Horse Trail. The western section of the trail was great as well – nice surface – easy to follow with a minimum of street crossings. Both of these trails have a lot of street crossings, but almost all of the crossings give a preference to the trail. We only had to wait at a few. Definitely a nice place to ride!
Someone needs to maintain the event calendar--it says no events, but there was an organised marathon last weekend. There were tons of runners--it's safe, paved, etc. It would be nice to get one or two additional locations for restroom/water. I've been using this trail for 30 years, and it's nice to see that it gets appreciated by regular use (which also keeps it safe!)
I tried this with my young kids in 2016. We started in Discovery park on the Jedediah Smith (American River Bike trail) , biked down to old Sac on the Sacramento River Bike Trail where we had some ice cream cones, and on the way back to Discovery park we decided to take this trail to 12th street, take the 12th street bridge (N Sacramento FWY) over to Northgate blvd and get back on to the Jedediah Smith trail.
The trail itself is in good condition and connects up to several other glorious area trails. It's paved the whole way with a few dirt spurs that go down to the river's edge and fairly open.
However,
I don't know where the photo that's featured for this trail was taken as I didn't see anything remotely similar on our route. There were a lot of homeless folks camped out along the route, and very few of the regular bikers and hikers that you normally see on the other trails. Getting off on 12th street was hair raising with little kids in tow, and there isn't a connector to put you back on the American River bike trail on the other side of the bridge, so if you don't know where you're going you might get lost and end up in a homeless camp.
If you're with a few buddies and it's still broad daylight, then it might be worth doing. Unfortunately, the trail gets very little traffic right now (so the police rarely patrol it) and it really doesn't go anywhere. If they ever build the trail out to the University it will might probably become a great trail. As of spring 2018 it's really not worth riding this trail even if you live here.
This is a great trail that is a smooth ride with many benches and stopping points along the way, even a few restrooms as well. People are decently considerate on the trail but you will have the occasional "tour de Sacramento" guy going way too fast.
Also if you are a mountain biker steer clear, the Park Rangers do not mess around here and you don't want to be caught off the paved trail, there are many off road paths along the route but strictly no bikes on that part.
Stayed at the Hilton on the south side of the trail and went north past the airport. It's a well maintained trail that follows the tiny Guadalupe river. If you can stay north of Julian St, you'll avoid sketchy-looking tent cities. I felt the run was perfectly safe and saw plenty of people throughout my run. I'd recommend it.
BE CAREFUL on the part of the trail that connects Antioch to Oakley. There are guys riding motorbikes on the trail sometime. They usually stick to the hills but will come down to the trail. There are some incredibly blind turns and these guys are driving really fast. They WILL hurt someone or themselves one day.
I don't really enjoy this trail. I only use it for my convenience. In fact, I use this trail to get to the Marsh Creek Trail, which is awesome!
Parked off of Gold Street. I didn't feel good about leaving my car there. It's a pretty rough looking area. There was trash everywhere. Broken glass, mattresses, mufflers. Went for the ride anyway. First few miles were great. Trail was well maintained and smooth. Once I got south of the airport it all went, well, south. The underpasses were all full of homeless people. Occasionally some would be sitting on the edge of the trial. No issues, but I never felt safe. It really killed what would have been an otherwise pleasant ride. I won't be back.
Nice flat trail that is perfect for older dogs. Lots of garbage cans available along the way for dog poop.
If you are looking for a smooth ride without a lot of traffic, this is your trail. The first half near lake Natoma has been freshly repaved and is billiard table smooth. The two street crossings have signals but other than those, it's a great path for fast riding.
This is a good trail, however unfortunately on the south end there is a short segment that is disconnected from the rest of the trail which starts again 5 miles to the north.
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