Lake Clementine Trail to the Dam Hike

It's been more than a couple of weeks since we hiked the Lake Clementine Trail to the Dam. This post is long overdue and I didn't want to skip it because it was such a beautiful day and the pics I took are definitely worth sharing.

Hubby found this hike in the 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of Sacramento book that we checked out at the library. The hike is in Auburn and about 50 minutes from where we live. There is a fee to park. It is $10 and you pay at a booth where there is a ranger and then you put the ticket receipt on your car dash after paying.

The hike is very popular. The parking area where the ranger booth was located was full so we had to park on the other side of the street.

For the Lake Clementine trailhead we walked across a bridge and the start of the trail is marked by a gate labeled trail 139.

After about a .5 mile, we came across our first sighting of the Foresthill Bridge. It is the tallest bridge in California at 731 feet above the riverbed!

 The kiddos enjoyed the puddles on the way.

There is some single track trail and you do need to watch out for mountain bikers. We saw a couple on the trail as we hiked.

The gravel trail ends once we come to this gate. Follow the paved road to the left.

At about 1.85 miles is this sign with only .4 left to the dam.

 The dam is really neat to see and I love the rainbows you get with the water there.

You can walk down closer to the bottom as there is a trail to go down. Just be careful heading down because it's a little steep at the start of the trail going down. Also be mindful of wet rocks since they can be slippery when you get closer to the bottom. My 7 year old didn't have much trouble.

Here's the top of the dam with Lake Clementine.

 Family pic by the dam.

The trail is an out and back trail, so after having lunch and hanging out for a bit and taking in the falls of the dam, we headed back. Here's another shot of the Foresthill Bridge on the way back to the trailhead.

According to my Garmin, the hike was 4.8 miles roundtrip with 799 feet of elevation gain. There is a good climb both ways, so I wouldn't say it's a breeze. I'd say it's a moderate hike but great for kids. 

Overall, I was pleased with this hike. It was neat to see the Foresthill Bridge and hanging out at the dam was really nice. I read that there is also a water hole, "Clark's hole" where people swim, but for some reason we missed it. Seems like it would be a great thing for those that hike the trail in the summer. I would definitely recommend this hike to others especially since it isn't too far. The dam and seeing a rainbow makes for great picture taking opportunities. :)

Happy Hiking!