Hey Buggiers -

I just discovered an incredible field in Sacramento (well, Rancho Cordova, CA to be exact). Please go there and have fun, and please invite me if you come up to play!

From Sacramento take HWY 50 East. Exit at Zinfandel Exit. Turn right off the exit and proceed straight for a couple miles. Zinfandel will dead end and the field at the end of the road can't be missed. Plush grass, some nice little hills to play on if you desire, and TONS of open space.

Just prior to the dead end (maybe a block or two before) there is a street calls Stotto. If you take a right and park right across from the baseball park, that field is also rather large and have very few rocks of size. I think these fields are eventually going to be new homes, so play now while you can!

Be careful of the streets, they look rather empty and tempting to play on with the buggy, however cars go zipping through here at outragous speeds so please stick to the fields!


Plan on using a size or two bigger kite than normal - the grass is getting tall!

So far I'm the only kiter out there - someone call me up when you wanna go! 916-217-9096 or sboom@surewest.net ...often I can break away during the work day too :singing:

Looks kinda close to Mather Airport. Down here the authorities get uptight when the words "flight path" and "kite" are used in the same breath. Even though you rarely see a traction kite on lines longer than 100'.

Be careful, and have fun while you can.

Thanks goreo95033 - it is close to Mather. I haven't been in trouble yet after about 15 sessions, so I think it's ok, but for anyone wanting to go there, I do not know if we're supposed to be out in the fields or not. Just learned that Elliot Homes owns the land and the real estate market here slowed, so they decided not to build yet. We should have the field for a while - but the grass needs to be mowed. Can't seem to get Elliot to do it though

Seriously, anyone in Sacto look me up and let's buggy!

Hey Boom - is this field still there or did it get built on yet? I live in Davis but always end up going to the Bay Area to buggy (Ceasar Chavez Park, Ocean Beach etc), so somewhere closer would be awesome!

A couple of years back I was looking around in this area (didn't find your field though), but over the other side of Mather from where I think where you are describing, the other side of the runway, there was some rough scrub grass area (across the road from the regional park where there is a small lake). It's within sight of the Control Tower and the white radar thing. Anway - the grass was over grown with thorny weeds etc, but there were a couple of *long* concrete paths running through the field, and it so happened on the day I was over there the wind was 90 degrees to the path, so it made for some awesome fast buggying back and forth along the path! Have to check it out again some time to see if its still there...

I just took a quick look in Google Earth at the place I was trying to decribe and you can see in Google Earth the long concrete pathways I was describing - actually I'm not sure what they are for, but I guess they are/were connected to the airfield in some way. I buggied here for a couple of hours one afternoon and didn't get disturbed by anyone. You're in clear view of the Control Tower at the airport so I guess if you were causing them hassle they would send someone over to tell you to leave? Anyway - the entrance to the field is South of Douglas Rd here:
38°33'14.17"N
121°15'41.07"W

There are 3 longs paths approx 0.5 mile long each, one running N/S, one one NE/SW, and one NW/SE.

Thanks for the google earth coordinates. That does look like a fun place! My field above has slowly been dissappearing as Beazer Homes has started construction. For almost a year they stopped but before they lost funding they cleared many acres and leveled it all to flat dirt. Unfortunately for us it might not be flyable anymore...I haven't been out there in a couple months so I'll go check again, maybe on my way to try out your spot.

Someone also told me there is a regional park somewhere in Davis past a sod farm. I don't know that area well but since you appear to be in davis, maybe it will ring a bell.

let me know if you ever want to get out!
sboom@surewest.net

Hey Boom - I drove down to take a look at that field at lunch today since I work pretty close by - the fields along side Stotto have some long grass growing - looking like it would be hard work buggying on there right now. Also, all the open areas have Elliot Homes signs posted all round the perimeter with "Private Property - No Tresspassing - Tresspassers will be prosecuted' etc. Not just one or two signs, but LOTS. I know buggying on this open land is not going to cause any damage, but I think you're pushing your luck to see whether they'll actually enforce what it says on the signs or not!

Yes, the place in Davis - its called Grasslands Park - if you drive South on Mace Blvd and keep going for about 4 miles you'll see the entry. It was actually on the news the other night because was some grass fires out there. It's a huge open area, but the grass tends to be pretty deep and thick over most of the park. There is one area that may be worth checking out - there is a model glider club based there and they have a long well cut grass runway - if there's no one there that may be a cool area to buggy on. It's a shame however the rest of the field doesn't have it's grass cut because then it would be neat - I think they leave it wild though as it's a wildlife habitat.

I'm planning on going to Ocean Beach Saturday morning - anyone planning on being there?

I've found another area between Davis and Woodland - you can leave your car here: 38°35'22.42"N 121°40'29.17"W

There is a levee that runs East/West at this point - from here you can buggy on the levee to the East for 0.9 miles. The top of the levee is about 10-15ft wide but when the grass is dry/low you can buggy on the sides of the bank as well, and down to a dirt track on either side of the bank. The levee is inbetween 2 drainage canals - be careful as you don't want to get overpowered and dragged into one of these - they're shallow but v. muddy (I ditched my kite in there and had to drag it out!).

You can go East about 0.9 mile before you get to a overhead high power line - it's quite high up but I think you'd have to be pretty crazy to try and go underneath unless you're flying on very short lines - if you could get underneath theres probably another 0.5mile the other side before the track turns to the south.

This is a idea place for a broad reach cruise if the wind is coming from the N or the S, which it normally does here...

Enjoy.

hey all you California buggiers, email me at dagonjones@yahoo.com we can get togeather and buggy.

Hey Guys/Gals in Northern California / Sacramento. I set up an email group on Yahoo so we can easily send emails when conditions are good, new locations are discovered for buggying, or anyone plans to fly and is looking for company.


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sacramento_kites
sacramento_kites@yahoogroups.com

This is way cool everone local should join. I just did!

I will be joining right now.


I only live about 6 miles from that location boom was talking about.


btw, love your email addressy boom I work at surewest

MrLucky - let us know how that field looks that Boom was talking about. Last I checked the builder had surrounded it with No Trespassing signs... so didn't look like it was (legally) usable anymore?

Hey guys, the signs are still up - it's been a while since I've been out there but used it on numerous occassions without getting in trouble (then again, I was a bit nervous each time).

I was thinking about checking it out this weekend sometime.

Though, I don't buggy, so if the grass is too tall may not be good for me.
I heard there is a good park in Elk Grove.

I have been using Gibson Ranch and Pheniox park. They are not real big, but enough to have a good time as long as the wind is under 15mph.