Sutter’s Landing River Access

A little bit of beach, wide calm waters, shallow shoreline, and laid back. This is a great spot for floating, paddling, frisbee in the shallow water, and even some paddling. The fifth star would be there if people would just pick up trash as you walk out. There is a trash can at the trailhead. It’s not that difficult but it makes all of the difference.

This is one of the few «beaches» in Sacramento. There’s a pretty nice strip of sand right next to the beach where people can sprawl out and bask in the sunlight.
Bring a grill, throw on some bacon-​wrapped jalapeño poppers and some chicken, and enjoy your day. This place doesn’t attract the trendiest crowd, so don’t expect string bikinis and rock-​hard abs. Instead, expect beer guts, cigarettes, and alcoholism. Oh, but a lot of people bring their dogs and they’re super friendly.
By the way, don’t bring glass to the beach. If you’re gonna drink there, bring cans.
There’s a really sweet rope swing, by the way. The water’s usually a pretty good temperature and the point where the swing enter the river is pretty deep, so have at it. Be careful not to back flop like I did, or you might bruise your ribs (big mistake on my part).
If you don’t have plans on a Sunday and you wanna get together with a few of your friends over a grill, go here.

Great place to start a long run from midtown. I never ventured far from the access point but one day I decided to keep going. If you turn right at the entrance it will take you under a bridge then under a freeway. It will then lead to a levee with wonderful views of the river. I see a few people running a biking but not many. Great place for some peace and quiet. I bring my dog too.

This is truly an undiscovered gem here in midtown. Having taken my dog to the dog park immediately south of it dozens of times, I had never gone past it and wandered down to the river access. Once I heard you could put paddleboards in there, it became a favorite spot. Decent and free parking, lots of dog friendly peeps, and with the exception of dog poop from crappy owners who don’t clean up after their pooches, it’s an easy place to hump your board down to the water. Just east of the main entrance it shallows out, so you can walk about a third of the way into the river before getting too deep, and there are plenty of awesome river animals to see. Turtles, loons, Canadian Geese, and last week there was an honest to god seal surfing the beach, and driving the dogs bonkers! Take a cooler, take a frisbee, bring your sunblock. The further east you trek, the less people, and since this is a free access, it’s worth hiking a bit to get away from the lowest common denominators, if you know what I mean.

This place is great if you’re craving some sort of sandy like environment next to the water but don’t want to travel a couple hours to get to the ocean.
There’s plenty of room to spread out, but the later you come, the harder it will get to find a spot for yourself. Bring a water float and roll down the river.
While there are signs that alcohol isn’t allowed on the beach, the people I was with brought plenty of beer, and other people did too. But always remember: CLEAN UP after yourself!
I can’t wait to go back.

super chill place to go. I like that you’re allowed to bring your dog and that people just come to relax, soak up the sun, take a dip in the river, and just lounge about. I would recommend bringing water and a cooler with snacks because its so great you may want to spend all day there!
Also, If you happen to have flotation devices, stand up paddle boards, or kayaks that is an added bonus.

I like coming here to play bocce with friends. There are three separate bocce courts and you can even go over to the skate park building and borrow a set of bocce balls — all at no charge! What a great way to enjoy a sunny afternoon /​early evening! They did a really great job putting this together — thank you!