Like a quiet invitation waiting to be opened, The American River Parkway winds through the heart of our city. Twenty-three miles. 4,800 acres. And according to a 2018 survey, only one in ten Sacramentans were aware that it exists.
That’s why the American River Parkway Foundation is committed to bringing the American River into the forefront of community conversations, one volunteer, one trail sign, and one awestruck visitor at a time.
The Foundation puts boots on the ground; more than 6,000 volunteers contribute roughly 16,000 hours each year, removing trash, pulling invasive plants, and restoring structures along the corridor.
Their Parkway Connect program, launched in 2021, brings nonprofits and community groups directly to the water’s edge for various programs and activities. In addition, their focus is also on creating river access where it didn’t exist before. Communities like Natomas, historically disconnected from the Parkway, are part of that growing conversation.
Community education is at the core of what they do. Through a partnership with the Sacramento County Office of Education, the Foundation hosts Title 1 school groups at an outdoor education site along the Parkway. The stakes of this work are real considering that according to the Foundation, “Sixty-eight percent of Sacramento County schools hold Title 1 status.” The philosophy is simple: bring a child to nature, and you might change how they see their community forever.
The Foundation is especially proud of a recent project where they installed new way finding signage and mile markers that help visitors navigate the Parkway with clarity. Grant funding through the Teichert-Parkway Fund supports economic projects that draw visitors from beyond city limits, including a cross-country course near Cal Expo and an archery range at Discovery Park.
The American River Parkway is a monument to the hard work, dedication, and love of nature that is shared by the citizens of Sacramento and represented through foundations like these.
