Central Valley North

The best in-line season in the Central Valley is early spring, not only because of the scenery but the weather as well. As long as the sun is out and the pavement is dry, you can comfortably skate all day in April; starting in May, however, midday skating is no longer an option, unless you carry lots of water and are fond of dry, relentless heat. Yet despite the arid climate, a skater in these parts is rarely far from the water, as most paved paths are built along rivers that flow down from the mountains or near natural or landscaped creeks. When cruising in the foothills on the eastern perimeters of the valley, be sure to visit the towns of Paradise and Oakdale. Above Sacramento, in the fertile flatland of the Sacramento Valley, the farming and college towns of Chico and Davis are each served by a well-used network of bike routes that seem tailor-made for in-line touring and training. South of Sacramento is the expansive San Joaquin Valley, where in spring the Modesto orchards are frothy with pink blossoms and the fields and foothills outside of Merced are a deep green.

Trail	City	Distance
Airport Connection	Chico	9 mi
Bidwell One-Mile Park	Chico	5 mi
Davis Covell Greenbelt	Davis	5 mi
Russell Boulevard Bike Trail	Davis	10 mi
UC Davis Campus	Davis	5 mi
Fairfield to Solano College	Fairfield	8 mi
Bear Creek Trail	Merced	6.5 mi
Black Rascal Creek Trail	Merced	7.5 mi
Fahrens Creek Trail	Merced	3 mi
Lake Road Trail	Merced	5 mi
West Olive Avenue	Merced	1.5 mi
Yosemite Lake	Merced	1 mi
Dry Creek Bike Trail	Modesto	4 mi
Hetch Hetchy Bike Trail	Modesto	2.8 mi
26-Mile Road	Oakdale	7 mi
Oak and Fox Hollow Estates	Oakdale	8 mi
Orange Blossom Road	Oakdale	4 mi
Woodward Reservoir	Oakdale	3 mi
Paradise Memorial Trailway	Paradise	8 mi
Brookside Area	Stockton	4 mi
Calaveras River Levee Bike Path	Stockton	12 mi
Tracy Bike Path	Tracy	6 mi