Prairie City SVRA
Rancho Cordova (20 miles east of Sacramento) · near Rancho Cordova / Sacramento · Gold Country & Central Valley
Off-Road
At a glance
- Skill level
- beginner
- Size
- ~840 acres · Motocross tracks, open riding, 4x4 obstacle areas · Foothill terrain
- Best season
- October–May · Green in winter/spring · Summer is hot but ridable early
Permits and booking
- Permit
- State Vehicular Recreation Area (California State Parks). Very affordable ~$5 day-use fee. Green Sticker or street-legal registration required. Helmets and spark arrestors required.
What is here
- Terrain
- mountain-4x4 · desert-wash
Worth knowing
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Off-Road detail
- Nickname
- Sacramento's $5 Shakedown Park
- Vehicles
- atv-utv · dirt-bike · 4x4-jeep · any-ohv
- Signature routes
- The 4x4 obstacle course · Motocross & OHV tracks · Free safety training
- Intl tip
- Prairie City is off Highway 50 in Rancho Cordova, minutes from Sacramento. It pairs naturally with the Gold Country — the American River (rivers guide), Auburn (swimming guide), and the Rubicon Trail (this guide) staging areas are all nearby. The $5 fee and short drive make it an easy after-work or weekend-morning session.
The guide
Prairie City is Sacramento's beloved backyard OHV park — a full-service State Vehicular Recreation Area just 20 minutes east of…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Prairie City SVRA — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 38.621, -121.129