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Sailor Bar, Fair Oaks - Great Walking Trails along the American River

By
Real Estate Agent with Lyon Real Estate, Fair Oaks CA (Sacramento Area) DRE# 00809499

Sailor Bar is an amazing place to walk, bike and experience the American River in Fair Oaks, Ca.  It's a 114 acre river bar that feels wild and wonderful, yet holds the secrets and scarring of 100 years of gold mining history. It's a walker's paradise!

Sailor Bar extends from the Hazel Bridge along the north side of the American River, to the rise of the Fair Oaks Bluffs near Olive and Natoma Avenues. It's easy to get a 3 - 5 mile hike in by wandering around the many twisted and turning trails through gold mine tailings, along the river's edge, around the fishing pond, and under towering oaks.Aerial view of Sailor Bar in Fair Oaks, along the American River, with mine tailings, oak trees, walking and running trails.

You can get to Sailor Bar from 4 access points.  Both Olive and Illinois Avenue have public parking.  Illinois also has a boat ramp. Additionally you can park at the ends Kenneth Avenue or Emperor Drive where there is a trail access.
Sailor Bar walking trails along the American River in Fair Oaks, CA.



Once at Sailor Bar, there are rocky service roads and dirt trails winding along the rivers edge, along the bottom of the bluff, and through past mounds of rocky mine tailings.  For nearly 100 years, from the 1850s til the 1940s this area was mined by gold miners seeking their fortune. In fact, it is named after the sailors who reportedly jumped ship to stake their claim along the banks of the river. First with gold pans, followed by rockers, Long Toms, sluice boxes, and finally bucket line dredges, the area is thought to have unearthed $125,000,000 in gold. That's 125 Million - quite a chunk of change!

Scalloped mine tailings of Sailor Bar in Fair Oaks along the American River are remnants of 100 years of gold mining.  The riverbed was dredged to the bedrock, sifted of its gold and the remaining rocks were dumped in repeating patternsAerial view of the mine tailings or arched rock piles left from gold dredging at Sailor Bar in Fair Oaks.During their heyday, bucket line dredges churned up the river bed, sorting and sifting rocks, filtering out the gold, then dumping the left over rocks into tailings - scalloped linear rock piles that give a wierd texture to the terrain. They are particularly bizarre to see in an aerial photo.

 

 

the gravel beds of the Gravel Augmentation Project which created spawning beds for returning salmon in the American River by Sailor Bar in Fair OaksRecently, however, the rock pilings have been put to good use. A gazillion salmon swim up the American River each year to spawn - lay their eggs.  Since 1955 the Nimbus Dam upstream of Sailor Bar has stopped the poor fish from reaching their spawning grounds in the headwaters of the river.  


The Nimbus Fish hatchery was built below the dam to capture the returning fish. On the way, many will spawn in the shallow gravel beds of the river, before being captured at the hatchery.  The daming of the river stopped the natural flow of gravel downstream, and the gravel beds are diminishing.

One of the many trails through Sailor Bar, Fair Oaks, under beautiful oak trees, along windy paths, and along the American River.Aha, said the fishery people.  We've got gravel, and the fish need it.  So from 2008 through 2010, the Gravel Augmentation Project has placed over 33 tons of gravel in the river, creating cozy spawning beds for our fishy friends. I can't say it has left much of a dent in the gravel of Sailor Bar, but the fish are happy.

So enjoy a walk around Sailor Bar.  It is truly a walk through history, and a wonderful natural playground right in the heart of Fair Oaks.

Posted by

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Your Fair Oaks Realtor for homes for sale in Fair Oaks and the Sacramento Area of California.... I'm your gal (Sally Dunbar). I'm occasionally knowledgable, periodically humorous, and always willing to tell you everything I know.  What more could you ask for?

Here are the newest listings for Fair Oaks, Orangevale, Citrus Heights, Folsom, Carmichael, Gold River, and Roseville - all CA, of course.

More Blog posts by Sally Dunbar at www.FairOaksHomesAndMore.comSally's Website at www.sallydunbar.com to search for all homes in the MLS, and for tons of information for buyers and sellers.  You'll find schools information, market statistics... you name it, I got it!  Come visit me.

 

 

 

Sally Dunbar, 35 year Broker Associate, Lyon Real Estate, Fair Oaks, CA (916) 524-1548, SDunbar@GoLyon.com "Your Fair Oaks Realtor"

Comments (3)

Gary Woltal
Keller Williams Realty - Flower Mound, TX
Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth

The hiking there sounds wonderful Sally. $125 M in gold. Keep your eyes open.

Apr 05, 2014 10:11 AM
Sally Dunbar
Lyon Real Estate, Fair Oaks CA (Sacramento Area) - Fair Oaks, CA
Fair Oaks Realtor - Fair Oaks Homes for Sale

Gary - I once found a two carat diamond ring by keeping my eyes open!  So I wouldn't put it past me to stumble on a gold nugget.  And you know about California - our streets are lined with gold, right? when my hubby and I got married, we decided to pan for the gold for our rings.  We went panning three times and barely got enough to cover the bottom of the vial.  We finally gave up and bought the danged ring!

Apr 05, 2014 11:11 AM
William Feela
WHISPERING PINES REALTY - North Branch, MN
Realtor, Whispering Pines Realty 651-674-5999 No.

Sounds like a great place to go for a leisure walk.  Peace and quiet.

Apr 05, 2014 02:15 PM