Dutch Creek in Coloma - Hidden Treasure

 The pictures following are of Dutch Creek that lies behind this gate.  Next to the gate are these seven signs.  Almost all parks in the California State Park System are "officially" not accessible to dogs. 

Asking locals, I have always been given guidance on how local rangers enforce these rules. 
Things change, so always check for yourself.

 On our two-hour hikes along the creek, we did not come across one other person.  We hiked it on both a Friday and a Saturday morning.

 Ask the locals in Coloma how to find Dutch Creek east of Coloma Resort.

 The creek is found after a .4 mile hike through open fields along the canyon.

 There were at least 20 little water falls we came across.

 Bailey and Chloe loved it.

This artesian well came out of the hillside.

 These were great spring hikes. 

 A true HIDDEN TREASURE. 

Coloma Resort - Hidden Treasure

On Hwy 49 in the Sierra Foothills lies the historical site of Coloma.  Where gold was discovered in 1848. 

Bailey and Chloe sitting nice for a picture in front of the statue

At the hill overlooking Coloma is a statue of Marshall pointing down to the American River where he discovered gold.  The statue was erected back in May 1890 for $5,000.

"The Marshall Monument stands at the summit of Marshall Hill, overlooking the town of Coloma and the site of Sutter’s Mill. The bronze Marshall, holding a gold nugget in one hand, points with the other to the site where he discovered those first few flakes of gold. The monument is made of granite and stands thirty-one feet tall, atop of which is the ten foot six-inch tall bronze statue of James Marshall. The monument was designed and sculpted by J. Marion Wells, and cast in San Francisco. It was erected by an Act of the Legislature, in May of 1890 at a cost of $5,000. James Wilson Marshall is buried beneath the monument."

http://www.malakoff.com/colomamm.htm

 

Historic bridge off of Hwy 49 that crosses the American River.

This bridge takes you over to Coloma Resort.

• From Sacramento, take Highway 50 east towards South Lake Tahoe.
• After about 30 miles take exit #37 (Ponderosa/North Shingle Road).
• Turn left over Highway 50, and then turn right at the light onto North Shingle Road.
• Follow North Shingle Road about 5 1/2 miles. North Shingle Road becomes Lotus Road.
• Follow Lotus Road about 6 miles until it ends at Highway 49.
• Turn right on Highway 49 and drive 3/4 mile to Mt. Murphy Road just past Sutter’s Mill.
• Take an immediate left to cross over the one lane bridge onto Mt. Murphy Road.
• As soon as you cross over the one lane bridge Coloma Resort is on your right.           

Our Lazy Daze parked along the river next to a small cabin available to rent.  This is just 30 feet from the river.

From the hills overlooking the river valley looking back towards the American River where it flows past Coloma Resort.

After sunset the row of RV and campers fire up the campfires along the river bank.

 A very clean and well run resort for tent campers, RV campers and cabins for rent.

 Our space.  #63 right on the river.

 

 

 Bailey and Chloe hanging out on a rock in the river.

A quiet pond next to the flowing river.  The dogs enjoying some off-leash paradise.

Hidden Treasure - Black Diamond Mines

 

A $5.00 entrance fee plus $2.00 per dog got me into this East Bay Regional park, where 100 years ago there was an active coal mine that served the SF Bay Area with coal.

www.ebparks.org

 

Off of Highway 4, south of Antioch, is the entrance to this great little park.  Take the Somersville Road exit and head south until you get to the kiosk and pay your entry fee.  This is maybe 7 miles from the highway.

 

From there it is another one mile up a winding road to the general parking lot and trail heads.

 We first took the Stewardville Road trail into the hills.

The Homestead Trail Loop is a wonderful way to experience the east side of the Diablo Range.

Just south of the staging area of the "Somersville Townsite",

 we completely enjoyed a great off-leash set of three trails:

 The Ridge Trail, runs into Chaparral Trail, and then finally meets up with the Black Diamond Trail.

 

 

 

A mountain lion trap northeast of the Somersville Townsite

 

 Great nine mile hikes over three hours on a morning with temperatures in the low 70's.

Good time of year to explore this Hidden Treasure.

Hidden Treasures - Tahoe Meadows

In South Lake Tahoe, Tahoe Meadows has been around since 1924.   Very dog friendly and safe area.  You enter the area through one gate with a pass code.  Once inside the area, there is maybe a hundred acres to enjoy.  As we walked the dogs a couple came up and said they lived in Tahoe Meadows and owned their own two Vizslas.   We exchanged information and said we should try to get together this summer.  Sounds fun.

 

 

For four days Joanie and I hosted a family gathering in a VRBO (Vacation Rentals By Owners)  pet-friendly house we had reserved six months ago. Each day the dogs and I would head out for some exercise in the gated community.

 

The area has seen SO LITTLE snow this year that the cover is very light.  Three years ago the lake had ice about 100 feet into the late from the shore.  This year there was no ice on the lake at all.

 

On the third day the clouds came in and the snow finally came down for all of two hours.  It was very light and didn't stick. 

 

The next morning the snow and clouds had passed by and left the sky blue and the air crisp.  The dogs enjoyed a run through a few meadows.  This is a "dogs on leash," area but there was no one there so I let Chloe and Bailey do some running.  They loved the smells on all the bushes and followed scents from bush to bush.

 

From the house the dogs looked out and watched squirrels darting from tree to tree. 

This was a wonderful vacation with dogs and kids and grandchildren.

Morgan Territory to the West

 A wonderful September morning and we headed back out to one of our "hidden treasures".

Morgan Territory East Bay Regional Park.

Bailey is in "rehab" for a problem with his right front ankle.  A sports injury (tendinitis) from something he did about three weeks ago during a crazy dog hill run.  He had to stay on this 25 foot long leash for this two-hour and 6-mile hike.  For the month of September he is on the DL.  We have to prepare for pheasant season.

About 1/2 an hour into the hike, we stopped at the Morgan Backpack Camp for cooling dip in the water trough and a restroom break.  The East Bay Regional Park District is a first class operation in my opinion.  A very under utilized out door activity as there are thousands of miles of trails throughout the East Bay maintained by this organization.

We got a late start today and didn't start out until about 9:00am.  We entered the Highland Trail entrance which is exactly 7 miles from where Morgan Territory Road branches off from Marsh Creek Road out of Clayton.  It was already 76 degrees.

Made sure my Camelback was full of water as we headed up into the hills west of the only road that runs through this section of country.   Over the last few months we had explored to the east but this was our first excursion to the west.  

 

The views from Highland Ridge trail were spectacular.

Mount Diablo can be seen in most of these pictures.  The twin mountain peaks of Mt. Diablo are the highest points for hundreds of miles around.

Looking west we looked over the San Ramon Valley. To the far side of this valley is the Oakland / Hayward hills. On the horizon are the hills on the San Francisco Bay Peninsula.

In the lower right corner just over Chloe is a wild animal trap.  We came across three of these during our hike.

This shot just reminded me of "Mother Nature".

 The weather was perfect even though it was warm.  By the time we got back to the Jeep the temperature was pushing 90 and rising.

Water is VERY important on these walks.  Always have enough for yourself and your dogs and try and plan your trip having places the dogs can cool down.

24 hours after we did our hike a view of Morgan Territory, a picture from my house in Walnut Creek of fire.  Morgan Territory is on the south east side Mt. Diablo.