American Canyon Creek to Quarry Trailhead (Intermediate)

Contact information:
Name: Gary P. 916.224.5535

Duration: 5-6 hours
Distance: about 11.2 miles one way
Max Grade: Mostly downhill
Difficulty: Moderate due to distance
Shuttle to trailhead. Please do NOT drive to trailhead alone as parking is limited and you may not have a ride back to your car afterward.

Description: This gentle descent into American Canyon takes hikers across two pleasant streams and several secluded waterfalls.

Hikers start out under a canopy of foothill pine and Douglas fir. The trail’s descent heightens the steepness of the hillside. The first trail that joins you enters from above to the left. It is just a connector from the community uphill.

Wendell T. Robie Trail meets your trail head-on at 0.8 miles, where you will make a U-turn to the right, heading downhill toward Sliger Mine Road. The next trail junction appears shortly, and you will continue straight ahead as your broad trail narrows.

We will take Dead Truck Trail from here back to the Ameican Canyon Creek Trail then down to the Middle Fork of the American river where we will catch the Quarry trail to the confluence.

Directions: I-80 East, drive 24 miles to the Elm Street exit in Auburn. Turn left at the traffic light onto Elm Street. At the bottom of the hill, turn left again onto High Street. Pass beneath the railroad tracks as you continue downhill on CA 49. Drive 2.3 miles down the winding highway to the confluence, where you follow the highway as it turns right across the American River toward Cool, where in 3 miles, you will turn left onto CA 193 toward Georgetown. Drive 5.6 miles, then turn left onto Sweetwater Trail on the north side, which is opposite of Pilgrim Court on the south. (This turn is before the village of Greenwood.) Your trailhead is on the right, just at that top of the street, before the gates to Auburn Lake Trails. Parking at the trailhead is limited, but you can park on the shoulder back down the road. The trailhead is signed American Canyon Trail – Third Gate.

Price: $3.00 per person for gas

Weather that will cancel: Heavy Rain & Wind (not just heavy rain)