Hidden Falls Regional Park TrailS Expansion PROJECT

Project Description

The trail expansion area is located northeast, west and east of the existing Hidden Falls Regional Park, and south of the Bear River in Placer County. The Project area is approximately 40 miles northeast of Sacramento. The existing Hidden Falls Regional Park area encompasses approximately 1,200 acres, and includes a parking area at Mears Place, as well as an already-permitted future parking area located off of Garden Bar Road.

The expansion areas to the northeast of the existing park consist of the areas known as Taylor Ranch (321 acres) and Harvego Bear River Preserve (1,773 acres), as well as privately-owned parcels with trail easements, such as the Liberty Ranch (313 acres). The trails will also cross the Kotomyan Preserve (160 acres) and the Outman Big Hill Preserve (80 acres). These areas are owned by the Placer Land Trust and are to be held as conservation land in perpetuity. Entry to these areas is currently limited to guided tours led by the Placer Land Trust. Placer County has trail easement rights within these properties. The proposed expansion area also includes a 40-acre County-owned parcel off of Garden Bar Road, as well as County-owned connectivity properties and an easement between the existing Hidden Falls Regional Park and Taylor Ranch, and a 50-acre property located off of Bell Road (Twilight Ride property). All totaled, the proposed expansion area includes approximately 2,765 acres. Modification of the existing Hidden Falls Regional Park Conditional Use Permit  encompasses both the existing park and the Trail Expansion areas.

The Final SEIR was released for public review and comment on September 4, 2020.  The SEIR analyzed full build-out of the Project, as well as three Alternatives, which all provided various versions of a smaller project. The full build-out of the project would provide a total of 297 new automobile spaces and 68 equestrian spaces.  The Board of Supervisors approved a “Reduced Project”, which is a smaller version of Alternative 2, reducing the parking spaces proposed with the full-build out by approximately 60 percent.  The parking areas for the “Reduced Project” consist of the following:

• Garden Bar 40 – Phases 1A and 1C – 25 total permanent automobile parking spaces and a separate 5 space ADA parking lot for use on weekends, holidays, and peak days, and allowance for 6 Special Events per year 
• Mears – Existing parking plus 25 new overflow spaces
• Twilight Ride – Phase 1 (54 auto/20 equestrian parking spaces)
• Harvego Preserve – Limit public use to only Placer Land Trust (PLT) docent-led tours as currently allowed by PLT’s agreement for road access from the landowner (currently a maximum of 12 per year). Eighteen existing parking spaces in an existing graveled area, no new parking development or amenities associated with the parking area
• Trails, bridges, and other amenities outside of parking areas are as proposed within the SEIR Project Description

FAQs

A FAQ (PDF) is available that addresses the most common questions regarding the Hidden Falls Regional Park Trails Expansion Project.

Project Contact

For more information regarding the Hidden Falls Regional Park Trails Expansion Project, please contact Andy Fisher by phone at 530-889-6819.

Environmental Impact Report Documents