Parks and Recreation

Solano County contains a wealth of beautiful parks, which provide many opportunities for camping, hiking, swimming and other forms of outdoor recreation.

Regional Parks and Facilities

• Lake Solano Regional Park

8685 Pleasants Valley Road, Winters, 530-795-2990

www.co.solano.ca.us/SubSection/SubSection.asp?NavID=609

Located at the base of coastal foothills west of the town of Winters, Lake Solano Park offers an array of recreational opportunities. A destination point for outdoor enthusiasts since its creation in 1973, Lake Solano Park caters especially to anglers, boaters, campers, swimmers, sunbathers and picnickers. It is ideal for hiking, bicycling, bird watching and wildlife photography.

The County operates a campground with 90 campsites, of which 40 have water and electric hookups. There are restrooms with flush toilets, sinks and hot showers.

The day use area has picnic sites, group picnic facilities, a free boat launch for non-powered vessels, parking, restrooms and a public telephone. The picnic area is located directly east of the campground.

The lake is considered one of the best fly fishing spots in the Sacramento Valley; popular game fish in Lake Solano include Brown and Rainbow Trout.

Fees: parking fees, group picnic fees, camping reservation and utility hook-up fees all apply. Call the park for more information, including maps and directions.

• Sandy Beach Regional Park

2333 Beach Drive, Rio Vista, 707-374-2097

www.co.solano.ca.us/SubSection/SubSection.asp?NavID=610

Sandy Beach Park is located on the Sacramento River near the town of Rio Vista. Open year round, the park offers a 24-hour boat-launching ramp, camp sites, picnic grounds, a hiking trail, miles of country roads for bicycling and a sandy beach stretching for over half a mile.

The campground includes picnic tables, barbecue pits, hot showers, flush toilets and facilities for waste disposal. Each of the 42 individual campsites is fully equipped with hook-ups for electricity and water. A camp host and a resident Ranger are on site to assist you so that your visit is enjoyable. Firewood is available; dogs on leashes are welcome.

Fees: parking fees, group picnic fees, camping reservation and utility hook-up, boat launching and dog fees all apply. Call the park for more information, including maps and directions.

• Lagoon Valley/ Pena Adobe Regional Park

Pena Adobe Road just off of Interstate 80, Vacaville, 707-449-5658

The 470 acre park includes the historic Pena Adobe home, barbecue areas, horseshoe pit, multi-purpose field, bike trails, a small pond, excellent hiking. Lagoon Lake offers fishing and non-motorized boating. The park also features a 30,000 square foot fenced in dog park complete with trees, water and trash receptacles.

Fees: entrance fees apply. Call the park for more information.

• Rockville Hills Regional Park

3/4 mile from the corner of Suisun Valley and Rockville Roads, Fairfield, 707-249-3613

Rockville Hills contains 630 acres of grasslands and oak woodlands, with a dense mixed broadleaf forest. The rich, biological and diverse habitats provide shelter to a variety of wildlife. The park is maintained by the City of Fairfield in its natural state. Improvements are limited to small parking areas and trails to accommodate visitor use. For fire control and vegetation management, livestock grazing is employed at certain times of the year, and both numbers of animals and time of their presence are controlled.  Park rules require that campfires or barbecues occur in authorized pits and areas only, that dogs must be leashed and cleaned up after, and that all bicyclists wear helmets.

Fees: day use and dog day use fees apply. Call the park for more information.

• Belden’s Landing Water Access Facility

3186 Grizzly Island Road, Suisun, 707-374-2097

Belden’s Landing is a new facility in the Solano County Regional Parks system, serving as a prime access point for saltwater and tidal marsh fishing and boating. Located on Montezuma Slough next to the Grizzly Island Road Bridge, the water access offers a year round 24-hour boat launching ramp and a fishing pier. Boat trips along the Montezuma Slough lead out to destinations in San Pablo Bay, the Sacramento River Delta and the Suisun City Marina.

Fees: parking fees apply. Call the park for more information.

• Grizzly Island Wildlife Area (CA Department of Fish and Game)

2548 Grizzly Island Road, Suisun, 707-425-3828

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/lands/wa/region3/grizzlyisland/general.html

The wildlife area contains 12,904 acres located in the Suisun Marsh estuary. The area is open to the public for hiking, nature viewing, canoeing and seasonal hunting and fishing. Suisun Marsh is the largest continuous estuarine marsh in the lower forty-eight states and is home to an abundance of plant and animal life. 

Hours: Mon-Fri 8-4:30 (Grizzly Island often closes in the winter due to flooding. Please call to check for closures before visiting.)

Fees: day-use fees apply. Call DFG or visit the website for more information, including maps and directions

Open Space and Land Preserves

• Jepson Prairie Preserve (managed in partnership by the Solano Land Trust, the Nature Conservancy, University of California Natural Reserve System and the Department of Fish and Game)

Jepson Prairie is one of California’s best remaining examples of vernal pools and native bunchgrass prairies. The preserve is bordered on the north and the south by tidal sloughs, which connect it with the vast San Francisco Bay Delta.

Jepson Prairie provides habitat for many rare and endangered species such as the Delta green ground beetle, vernal pool fairy and tadpole shrimp, Conservancy fairy shrimp, California tiger salamander, and Bogg’s Lake hedge-hyssop. Over 400 species and 64 families of plants, including 15 rare and endangered plants are found on site.

Hours: Dawn to Dusk

Amenities: Portable toilets. No drinking water.

Directions from the Sacramento area: West on I-80 and then south on Highway 113. Twelve miles south of Dixon, where 113 turns east at an overhead warning light, go straight onto the gravel road, Cook Lane, cross the railroad tracks, and continue to the parking area near the eucalyptus trees.

Directions from the Bay Area: East on I-80, east on Highway 12 and then north on Highway 113. Take the first left at a warning light, and turn left onto Cook Lane at the second warning light. Continue down Cook Lane across the railroad tracks to the parking area near the eucalyptus trees.

• Lynch Canyon (managed in partnership by the Solano Land Trust and Solano County)

Step into the 1,039-acre Lynch Canyon property and enter a world of steeply rolling hills blanketed with grasslands and accented with groves of buckeyes and live oaks. This enclosed watershed drains to the Suisun Marsh via Lynch Creek. Grasslands, oak groves, riparian woodlands, and wetland meadows provide shelter and forage for deer, gray fox, coyote, bobcat, meadowlark, goldfinch, waterfowl, and many raptors, including the golden eagle. The 900-foot ridges offer panoramic views extending from the Coast Ranges to San Francisco Bay and across the Delta to the Sierra Nevada. Lynch Canyon was acquired by the Solano Land Trust in 1996, and is now home to a section of the Bay Area Ridge Trail.

Directions: From I-80 take the Hiddenbrooke/American Canyon Exit between Vallejo and Fairfield. Turn east on McGary Road (frontage road that runs parallel on the south side of I-80) and proceed 1.6 miles to the I-80 underpass and turn left. Proceed through gate at end of cul-de-sac to gravel parking lot.

Fees: A daily parking fee is required as posted. Annual parking passes are available through County Parks at (707) 784-7905.

• Rush Ranch Open Space (managed in partnership by the Solano Land Trust, Rush Ranch Educational Council, Access Adventure and the San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve)

Rush Ranch is a 2,027-acre preserve with vast open spaces, tranquility, visible history and excellent birding. Rush Ranch supports more than 200 species and 47 families of plants, 15 mammal species and 123 bird species. Three self-guided trails lead through grasslands, provide spectacular views and take visitors along the edges of the Suisun Marsh. The Kit House is a 1930’s Sears and Roebuck mail-order house now used as a museum and visitor center.

A new Nature Center with conference/classroom, office exhibits, public toilets, visiting scientist guest quarters and caretaker’s home will be completed on site in Summer 2007

The Rush Ranch Educational Council (RREC), an all-volunteer organization, is dedicated to providing education and outreach programs from September to June. For information about RREC and the Patwin Program offered to local schoolchildren visit www.rushranch.org.

Hours: Open Tuesday-Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Suisun Hill Trail across from the ranch is open from dawn to dusk every day.

Amenities: Adjacent to the parking lot and the restored 18th century historic barn is a shaded picnic area, washing water and pit toilets.

Rules: No dogs, horses or bicycles on Rush Ranch trails (dogs are allowed on Suisun Hill Trail only). No collecting of flora and fauna.

Directions:  From Highway 12 in Suisun City, head south on Grizzly Island Road for about two miles. The entrance gate is on the right.

• King-Swett Ranches (managed by the Solano Land Trust)

The King-Swett Ranches are the largest protected open space in Solano County. Though not yet prepared for visitors, the 3,930-acre preserve, part of the Sky Valley Cordelia Hills Open Space project, is a future open space for Solano residents. Nestled between Benicia, Fairfield and Vallejo, this newly-acquired property offers serpentine grasslands, rocky outcrops, oak woodlands, and riparian corridors that host a wide variety of flora and fauna, including rare and endangered species such as the California red-legged frog, Swainson's hawk, and horned larks.

Hours: Currently open for staff- or docent-led activities only; for more information, Sue Wickham at (707) 432-0150 x207 / sue@solanolandtrust.org or Teri Engbring at (707) 432-0150 x200 / teri@solanolandtrust.org.

Amenities: None at this time.

Solano County Recreation Resources:

• Solano County Recreation Facilities

www.delta.ca.gov/atlas/rec48.pdf

• Solano Land Trust

www.solanolandtrust.org

• Solano County City Parks

http://www.co.solano.ca.us/Links/Link.asp?NavID=164

• Solano County Museums

www.co.solano.ca.us/Links/Link.asp?NavID=163