Olmstead Loop (Cool)
Cool (Auburn State Recreation Area) · near Cool / Auburn · Gold Country & Central Valley
Trail Running
At a glance
- Difficulty
- moderate
- Distance
- 8.7 miles
- Elevation gain
- 1,100 ft
- Best season
- Oct–May · wildflowers spring · hot summer
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- No permit. Auburn State Recreation Area — free from the Cool trailhead (behind the fire station on Hwy 49). Shared with equestrians and mountain bikers.
What is here
- Features
- Classic Western States-country loop · Gold-country oak woodland & seasonal creeks · Well-marked, very runnable · Hosts the Way Too Cool 50K
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Trail Running detail
- Surface
- fire-road
- Intl tip
- The trailhead is behind the fire station in Cool, on Hwy 49 just south of Auburn. Shared with horses and bikes — stay alert. Combine with the Quarry Trail and Western States Trail (this guide) for a full Auburn-area running pilgrimage. The Way Too Cool 50K (March) is the classic local ultra. Run early in warm months.
The guide
The Olmstead Loop out of Cool is the definitive gold-country training run — an 8.7-mile circuit of flowing oak-woodland trail i…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Olmstead Loop (Cool) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 38.889, -121.018