It’s 8 a.m. on a June Saturday, and the American River Parkway is already getting crowded.
Runners Katie Tibbetts and Heather Kobza head onto the asphalt trail at Hazel Avenue, heads swiveling to watch for cyclists. Nearby, sweat-drenched Katri Kehraevuo of Citrus Heights steers her bike into the fish hatchery lot following an early-morning ride timed to beat the crowds. Farther down the trail, Heather Raitt of Carmichael sticks carefully to the shoulder as she pushes a stroller carrying her daughter Chloe, 3, on a duck-viewing expedition.
Life on the parkway has hit peak season. Sacramento County park rangers call it the “hot zone,” when portions of the region’s flowing 32-mile recreation artery can clog.
There are no solid data on how many people are flocking to Sacramento’s most popular recreation area. but many users say the numbers have risen noticeably in the past few years, prompting complaints that the parkway’s narrow trail – a 12-foot ribbon of pavement with a shoulder that varies – has become overcrowded to the point of being dangerous.
New leaders in the Sacramento County parks department agree, and have launched a series of crackdowns on some of the parkway’s most problematic activities.
This month, county rangers announced that they will, for the first time, cite some cyclists for going faster than the posted 15 mile-per-hour limit. Their focus will be on groups of riders that speed through certain crowded areas.
Officials also recently launched daily raids on homeless camps. They have begun issuing citations for off-leash dog walkers, and plan a series of restrictions on the large commercial running groups that have showed up on the trail in recent years.
“We’re talking about physics here, really,” said Chief Ranger Stan Lumsden. “The more people using the trail, the more conflict.”
Sacramento County handles the section of the parkway from Discovery Park to Hazel Avenue. The portion past Lake Natoma and Folsom Lake is managed by the state.
For the most part, parkway users follow a simple code of conduct that keeps the trail safe. Runners, walkers and stroller pushers have the right to use the paved path, but etiquette calls for them to stick to the left side and not run two abreast on the pavement. Runners in groups are encouraged to shout “bike up” as a warning when cyclists approach.
Cyclists are asked to switch to single file when other users are around, and county signs posted along the trail instruct them to call out, “On your left,” when passing other riders.
Yet on summer weekends, with families, dog walkers, rafters and others crossing the trail, the friendly shouts of hello can give way to angry cries of “watch out!”
“It’s a nightmare out there,” said cyclist Gail Hart.
Hart, who got knocked out in a high-speed bike crash involving another cyclist a few years ago, says she stops and tells others what they are doing wrong. It’s led to shouting matches.
Other users say they find the trail pleasurable and relaxing, even on summer weekends. They just have to be on good behavior and general alert.
Tibbetts says she follows etiquette by running on the left side of the trail so she can see cyclists coming toward her. She slides onto the crushed granite shoulder to give riders more room whenever possible.
“But it’s been scary when they don’t follow in single file,” she said.
