Northern CA climbers...moving advice needed: COOL climbing towns around Sacramento!??!!!

Hey folks---

Can anyone recommend a cool, active, mtn town near Sacramento to live??? I just landed a dream job and moving to northern CA this winter. Only problem: I dont know the area at all (besides Bishop, Tuolumne and the Valley!!!) and currently living in east africa so i cant exactly hop on a plane and check towns out. on craigslist i only see crappy, cookie cutter communities. yuck!

Been in Flagstaff and Tucson for the last decade...so used to open space and no crowds. Living within 30-45 min of Sac is ideal. Davis looks good but its pricey and further away from climbing. hmmm.

ANY advice would be SUPER helpful!!!!! thanks so much, Katie O.

Katie,

I don't know the Sacramento area very well (even though I was born there), but have climbed a couple of times at Lovers Leap and Phantom Spires.

If you lived somewhat east of Sacramento (Folsom, El Dorado Hills), it would get you that much closer to the excellent South Lake Tahoe climbing. Which is less than two hours from Sacramento.

supertopo.com/packs/southla…

A local will chime in with better info, but there's a start for you.

I lived in Sactown for 5 years and had a great time. My climbing soared so to speak with many memorable adventures and incredible friends. Sacramento actually is not a bad town with good food, wine, and beer; much less traffic than SF, and decent access to mountains, the ocean, and wine country. Most everything is 1.5-2 hrs away as long as u avoid rush hr and weekend traffic. Yosemite is a little over 3 hrs away. Pipeworks is a great local gym where u can gain a lot of new partners. I had a number of climbing friends who lived in nearby smaller towns like Auburn, Folsom, and Sonora and all seemed pretty happy. Sonora would be the farthest from Sac but probably offers more of a mtn(tourist) vibe. Tahoe vicinity is obviously entertaining for climbing, skiing, and watersports but the commute would be prohibitive.
Good luck!

Unfortunately no such towns occur within 30-45min of Sac. I think you'll have to compromise on some criteria - either you're in the mountains with a further commute to work, or you're in the city with a further commute to the mtns.

You could look at Truckee or South Lake, but they are about 1h45mins to Sac.

Then there are little foothill towns like Auburn and Placerville - smaller and closer to the mountains, but pretty small communities. Probably the best overall compromise, although I can speak to the social scene in either place.

Or you could line in the Central Valley. Davis has a lot going for it....except is VERY FAR (by Flagstaff and Tucson standards) from any recreation opportunities. Those moving here from other parts of the world are amazed by the easy (2-hr) access to lots of cool stuff. Great community too.

Sounds like you want avoid Sac proper...good choice if you ask me.

Good luck.

Nevada City looked to have some nice ambience. You don't hear of it talked about but I thought it seemed compelling and at least worth a look. I passed through it many times on the way to Donner and Tuolumne in the 5 months I was in Marysville for a work project last year. Not much climbing immediately in the town....but there appeared to be some nice mountain and road biking close by. Donner was an hour plus from there.....and some of the northern Tahoe related areas are near-ish. It's maybe 1-1.5 hrs from Sacto. From Marysville I concluded the most expeditious route to Tuolumne (and east side of Sierra) was through Reno (I-80). There were other routes....all were very serpentine. Nevada City puts you at a greater distance from places like Yos. Valley and Lover Leap, however....than say some of the easterly towns adjacent to Sacto. The Sacto suburb towns can be a bit congested and trafficky. Placerville, CA is another town I'd consider. Also, Sonora looked to be a decent community and you would be very close to the valley side of the national park, but also a good distance from Sac.

Knowing where this dream job is based would be key in helping those who might give advice. There are a lot of commuters in the greater Sacto area....and you could be in for a grind of a commute each day if you selected one of these outlier communities and your job had you in the heart of the city during the work week.

Nothing to add, but congrats on landing a dream job!

Also note that Hwy 50......that goes from Sacto to South Lake Tahoe (and all of those Sierra recreational environs in that corridor and beyond), can be bumper-to-bumper with weekend escapists/returners on either ends of weekends, especially holiday weekends

And to cap off this whole free advice manifesto.....there is actually a town named Cool......near Placerville. Very small. Check the map. This area of the western foothills is very rugged and beautiful.......I made many drives throughout this area exploring attempts at short cuts to Cosumne, Lovers, Phantom Spires, Sugarloaf, S Lake T., and the Sierra passes that route you to the east side

you guys are awesome so far!!!! (; THANK YOU! I should have mentioned that' dream job' is in south sacramento. hmmm. will check out folsom, cool, placerville and davis, sounds like. the latter would be a no-brainer except its far from climbing. oh, and i almost never work m-f (9-5). medical job so its off-hours.

any other thoughts???

I would go with Auburn. Pretty chill town in the foothills. 30 minutes to Sacramento. Less than an hour to Donner Summit, 30 minutes to the Emeralds (excellent sport climbing just off Highway 20), killer mountain biking just outside of town, and the N. Fork of the American River is right there. Davis puts you farther away from anything, and you definitely don't want to live in Cool. Placerville kinda sucks IMO. There's also a climbing spot in Auburn (Auburn Quarry), but can't speak to the quality.

I'd second Auburn. Not sure I would call it cool, but it actually has that sport quarry spot, good mt biking, quick access to skiing/north Tahoe stuff. P-ville is pretty redneck whereas Auburn is it's Highway 49 somewhat opposite. This goes for South Lake Tahoe vs north shore Tahoe as well.

Nevada City/Grass Valley are also worth considering.

If not Auburn, I'd probably choose downtown Sac. People love to hate on it, but it's cheap (by Northern Cal standards) and if you're young and single, has a lot going on for that group.

Take into account that commuting from Auburn isn't going to be fun. If you're M-F, 9-5, living closer to work is going to be an option worth looking at. Congrats on the job, I hope it works out.

Edited: Medical career? Ok, so off hour commuting.... Auburn. Gets you the closest and has legit climbing the closest by.

Kyle said it well. The smaller communities are all very similar so pick one that is in a good location. Folsom, although has it's share of cookie cutter housing has a pretty young population, is filling up with artisan style stores and restaurants, has proximity to south sac, south Tahoe and even north Tahoe. Is located on the lower slopes of 50 therefore not huge traffic issues and close enough to hwy 80 and 99/5 corridor. Davis is older and more quaint but flat and further west.

some pretty good info here:

supertopo.com/climbers-foru…

also Sacramento has been covered extensively here on MP as well:

mountainproject.com/v/east-…

this is super helpful!!!!!!!!!

think i may live and work in Sac and road trip ALOT (rather than commute ALOT) into the sierras, etc. driving for fun is a hell of a lot better than commuting.

that being said, folsom, auburn, placerville, cool, davis= keeping an open mid and will check em out when i get back stateside.

thanks thanks thanks (;

Katie - congratulations on landing a dream job! As someone who recently did the same, I am of the current mindset that it is better to commute to climb rather than commute to work, assuming you'll be stationed in a conventional, 9-5ish office environment.

I've been living in Davis for the past 3.5 years, and I like it. It's not my favorite town in Northern California to be close to climbing (indeed, it isn't particularly close to anything great), but overall it's a pretty damn good place to live. My cottage ($500/month, when split with my gf) is in a prime downtown location, but where it's also quiet at night. I live within 2 blocks of the excellent Davis Food Coop, and within biking distance of everything else (less than 5 minutes to the yoga studio, 5 minutes to the local climbing gym, 5 minutes to campus, etc.).

I get away nearly every weekend, for day trips to Donner Summit or Lover's Leap (or other nearby crags, such as Sugarloaf or Phantom Spires), both of which are 1.5 hours away (give or take, depending on traffic). The Valley is 3.5 hours the way that I go (CA 4 east from Stockton). Eastside is about 5 hours, regardless of the season (advantage over the Bay Area).

Additionally, Davis has the advantage of being closer than the foothill towns to the Bay/coast, if you're into things other than climbing. I also like to go into Marin to road bike, which is about 1.5 hours away. SF is the same distance. Hell, last weekend I was without a partner and decided to hike up Lassen, which is about 2.5 hours north. Essentially, there's something good in any direction.

To sum up, Davis is a solid town for a laid-back, easy time with a high quality of life. Downsides are the fact that it NEVER rains here in the summer, and like everywhere else in the Sacramento valley, is f'ing hot. Sometimes the bubble-like environment can get to me (Davis has been ranked as the most educated town in the US), but in general I'm content here.

Feel free to PM me for more info, or if you're looking for a partner when you arrive.

PS: My gf is doing her dissertation research in Uganda, and I'm sure she'd love to swap stories with you.

I wasn't suggesting Cool as a place to live......just the coincidence of the name with your message title.

Davis and Sac both have good climbing gyms - worth noting when outside rock is too cold/hot to climb on

Thanks again everyone!!!

As of feb 1, I'll be in northern Ca and ready to climb... For wherever becomes home base.

Cheers, Katie

Welcome to California.

I've lived in Sacramento 3 years. Not a fan. It is, however relatively close (2-6 hrs) to some of the best climbing in the world.

Having lived in Sacramento for about 8 years, I think where you should live depends a bit on your situation in life. Assuming that you are relatively young and without a family in tow, I would suggest living in either midtown Sacramento or West Sacramento, just across the River from Sac. Midtown has plenty going on, and a reasonably vibrant restaurant and social scene. West Sacramento is cheaper and is very much up and coming, especially in some parts closer to the river (and freeways). If you are living in midtown, and depending on where your job is, you may be able to commute by bike or light rail pretty easily (you can also take your bike on light rail). If you have a family, there are plenty of nice neighborhoods within the city of Sacramento. The other plus to living in the city is the proximity to the American River bike trail and other amenities like that. Your commute to work would be short and your commute to climbing would be reasonable 1) Auburn Quarry (choosy but varied routes): 45 min; 2) Cosumnes River Gorge (decent top rope and sport routes) 45 min 3) Vacaville Boulders (decent but strangely located) 45 min 4) Lover's Leap, Phantom Spires ( high quality trad routes) 90 minute 5) Lake Tahoe, Truckee etc (many high quality climbing areas): 2 hours 6) Yosemite: 3 hours 7) Owens River Gorge, Buttermilks, Bishop area: 4 hours.

In other words you can live easily near work and within relatively short drives of some great climbing.