Auburn State Recreation Area

In the heart of the Gold Country, the Auburn State Recreation Area (Auburn SRA) covers over 35,000 acres (142 km²) along 40 miles (60 km) of the North and Middle Forks of the American River, in Placer County, California. Once teeming with thousands of gold miners, the area is now a natural area offering a wide variety of recreation opportunities to over 500,000 visitors a year.

Major recreational uses include hiking, swimming, boating, fishing, camping, mountain biking, gold panning, equestrian/horseback riding trails and off-highway motorcycle riding. Whitewater recreation is also very popular on both forks of the river, with Class II, III and IV runs.

Auburn SRA is made up of the lands set aside for the Auburn Dam. However, a large earthquake at Oroville nearby was found to have been caused by the dam and reservoir at that location, which led to examination and discovery that the Auburn dam site is situated on an earthquake fault. This discovery halted the Auburn Dam project because of fears that constructing a dam and lake would cause a reservoir-induced earthquake which would lead to a dam's collapse, with catastrophic consequences for the city of Sacramento lying directly below. As such, the project has been abandoned and as a result millions of people now enjoy the Auburn State Recreation Area in its spectacular natural state, with multiple wilderness canyons offering access to one of the last remaining natural river systems in Central California. The California State Parks administers the area under a contract with the United States Bureau of Reclamation.

Media appearances

A stunt from the 2002 film "XXX" was filmed in the park, in which a Corvette is driven off the Foresthill Bridge while the driver parachutes to safety. The 2005 book "Nature Noir: A Park Ranger's Patrol in the Sierra" (ISBN 0-618-71195-3) recounted author Jordan Fisher Smith's experiences as a ranger in the park.

Links

* [http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=502 Official web page]
* [http://www.auburndamwatch.org/auburn-dam-history/ Auburn Dam History]
* [http://are.berkeley.edu/~wkam/AuburnDam/ Summary of the Auburn Dam History]