Auburn State Recreation Area facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Auburn State Recreation Area |
|
|---|---|
Auburn State Recreation Area from California State Route 49
|
|
 Auburn State Recreation Area
Location in California
Auburn State Recreation Area
Location in the United States
|
|
| Location | El Dorado & Placer Counties, California, USA |
| Nearest city | Auburn, California |
| Area | 42,377 acres (171.49 km2) |
| Established | 1966 |
| Governing body | California Department of Parks and Recreation |
The Auburn State Recreation Area is a special park in California. It stretches for about 40 miles (64 km) along the North and Middle Forks of the American River. This large park is located near the city of Auburn, right in the heart of California's historic Gold Country.
Long ago, this area was busy with gold mining. Today, it's a fantastic place for many outdoor activities. You can go trail running, hiking, swimming, boating, fishing, and camping. People also enjoy mountain biking, trying their luck at gold panning, and horseback riding. Whitewater rafting is also very popular on the river. The park is also famous for hosting many challenging endurance races throughout the year.
Discover the Park's History
The Auburn State Recreation Area exists because of a dam project that was never finished. This project was called the Auburn Dam. Plans for the dam were stopped after a big earthquake happened near Oroville. Scientists then found a geologic fault right at the Auburn dam site.
Building a large dam and lake on a fault could cause new earthquakes. These "reservoir-induced earthquakes" could make the dam collapse. This would be very dangerous for the city of Sacramento, which is located below the dam. So, the dam project was stopped.
The government had already bought about 40,000 acres of land for the dam. Since the dam wasn't built, this land became the Auburn State Recreation Area. Now, millions of people can enjoy this beautiful natural area. It has wilderness canyons and one of the last natural river systems in Central California. The California Department of Parks and Recreation helps manage the park.
Challenge Yourself: Endurance Races
The city of Auburn is known as the "Endurance Capital of the World." This is because the Auburn State Recreation Area hosts many tough sporting events. These events test how long people can keep going.
Some of the famous races held here include:
- The Western States Endurance Run: A very long running race.
- The Western States Trail Ride (also called the Tevis Cup Equestrian Ride): A challenging horseback riding event.
- The American River 50 Mile Endurance Run: Another long running race.
- The Way Too Cool 50 Kilometer Endurance Run.
- The Auburn International Half Iron Triathlon.
These events bring athletes from all over the world to the park.
Auburn SRA in Movies and Books
The Auburn State Recreation Area has even appeared in movies and books!
- In the 2002 movie XXX, a cool stunt was filmed here. A car was driven off the Foresthill Bridge, and the driver parachuted to safety.
- The 2005 book Nature Noir: A Park Ranger's Patrol in the Sierra shares stories. It's about a park ranger named Jordan Fisher Smith and his experiences working at Auburn SRA.
