We visit this area from Florida and recently discovered this trail. We love to bike this trail except for the underpass at the San Tomas Expwy. It is too narrow and more than once I have been forced into the fence or the wall by bicyclists who do not seem to care about other riders or hikers. The trail is more crowded than we like, but it is a nice ride along the creek and through the parks along the way.

One end of the trail is near our house. We have the tree lined area, which is nice in summer. We have done other parts of the trail which are more open. Different parts of the year you can see Salmon spawning, after Halloween around Delta Road part of the trail.

I parked the north end point, at the Nimbus Fish hatchery. There are 2 parking lots, the first has a timed gate that closes at 3 pm. The second, just the next parking lot, driving west, sign said Regional II, was open, no gate. There are no signs to the canal. I spoke with another biker who gave me the direction from the parking lot. Proceed west 2 blocks residential area to the stop light. Turn left, you will then see the canal with entrance on the right. There are mileage signs till mile 13. Thinking this was 15 miles trail, I kept going climbing thru the gate at Sloughouse, mile 13.9. I should not have. There are no mileage marker, there are difficult to see small markers on the asphalt. The canal trail soon ends anyway. The Park n Ride lot on Hwy. 16 can be used as a south starting point.

A nice place for bikes without automobile or pedestrian interference. I completed my first 20+ mile ride done on this trail. One spot stunk like fertilizer. Almost 0 shade, so make sure you have your sun protection on.

Took the bikes out for the first time with the wife on her first ride and we decided to ride just around the house and slowly worked her towards the trail and she loved it and did the entire ride and worked our way back home nearly 10 miles on her first ride!! Beautiful riding with great sites.

Great for biking & walking!

Tried this trail, but ended in disaster. Starting at the "Heather Park" end, after crossing Marchbanks Rd, I encountered Diablo Hills Golf Course. Map routes through the golf course to Kinross Dr, but once I entered the green, I was "politely" chased away by a lady in a golf cart yelling, "You can't be here... this is private property... you could be killed" (assume she meant by a line-drive).

When you get to Marchbanks Dr, turn left, go down to Ygnacio, hang a right, then pick up the trail.

Once in a while I like to ride the canal to just have a long, flat stretch to ride with no climbing. The only "climbs" are the few places where you may have to go up an overpass and then back down onto the canal. As for scenery, well, there ain't none. Its a boring ride but nice and flat and not crowded at all, particularly toward the south end. Its a great place where I take new riders to get them used to their bikes, changing gears etc. without the chance of being stuck on a hill in the wrong gear.
As others have mentioned, for some reason, they keep the far south end of the trail closed off completely which seems very odd. On one ride there I followed a contract security officer down to the south end at Sloughhouse Road. He was opening the gate on the south side of the road and I was preparing to follow him in there when he informed me that that was the end of the public access; it was closed completely from that point south. I wish that they would change this; seems a bit ridiculous to not allow bikes/hikers access to that area.
All in all, if you rode the entire accessible area of the trail from one end to another, it totals nearly 13 miles. I generally start near Sunrise/16 at the Park-n-Ride Lot there, ride south to where its closed off, turn around and ride all the way north to the Fish Hatchery and turn around and come back. There are no longer any restrooms along the trail (they used to have at least one porta-potty however I'm sure that was probably vandalized enough to make them remove it. But, being as isolated as most stretches are, particularly near the south end, its not much of a problem.
The American River Bike trail is much more scenic but crowded, particularly on weekends. But if you're looking for a great stretch of flat riding without the crowds, the canal is it.

Not conventionally beautiful, but a great ride along the canal through some industrial and suburban landscapes. The trail is mostly in good condition for road bikes. Didn’t see many other riders, most of the company was in the form of a nice variety of birds. Even though it’s man-made, it’s nice to have the water alongside you the whole way. Very little shade, so if you’re going in summer bring a lot of water or choose a cloudy day. I’ll definitely ride this one again!