Many know about Old Town Sacramento and the fabulous Crocker Art Museum but there are also a lot of lesser-known hidden gems in Sacramento for travellers to discover. For those looking to get off-the-beaten track see below for some of Sacramento’s best kept secrets from underground tours to hidden beaches and wildlife hidden in plain sight.
French delights in California
- West Sacramento’s Franquette is Your new French (Food) Connection
Franquette is one of the Sacramento region’s newest restaurants having opened in West Sacramento’s Bridge District earlier this year bringing an all-day French café from the same group that opened East Sacramento’s Canon. Chef Elena Winks – who learned to cook in France – describes her experience on a recent episode of Visit Sacramento’s podcast.
Out of the public eye tours
- Underground Tour by Sacramento History Museum
Sacramento’s original street level was underground and there are a lot of remnants from that era that will show visitors another side of the city’s history. The Sacramento History Museum is not a hidden gem itself but its underground tour that gives a glimpse of the city’s underbelly is. The disastrous floods of the mid-1800s left no choice but to raise the city’s original street level to avoid future flooding. Ever since, most of Sacramento’s heritage has remained underground. Sacramento History Museum guides in period costumes lead groups down sloped alleyways and narrow passages into some of these gloomy spaces, all the while sharing details on the town’s early history and citizens. Special “Underground After Hours” tours, offered on select evenings for ages 21 and over, delve into the city’s darker past. Guides shed light on Old Sacramento’s shadiest characters, sharing the early town’s gossip of murder, mischief, and madams.
Lesser-known wine regions
- Sacramento Valley Wineries
The Sacramento region and surrounding counties are home to more than 200 wineries, vineyards and tasting rooms, and most are within an hour’s drive from the city. Area wineries, as well as wine bars, are tapping into the region’s bounty to serve dozens of varieties grown and made in the area. It’s a little-known fact that a large portion of the grapes used to make world-famous Napa wines actually come from the Sacramento region.
Hidden parks and beach
- Paradise Beach
For those who want to get off the beaten track, Paradise Beach is one of the best places to visit when in Sacramento. Most visitors don’t know about it but locals love it. Unlike what its name suggests, Paradise Beach is actually a riverside recreational area, perfect for swimming, fishing and picnicking. This hidden beach is perfect for nature lovers and pet owners and for those wanting to cool down in the warm summer sun.Wildlife hidden in plain sight
- Bat Talk and Walk – Yolo Basin Foundation
The Yolo Basin, a true Sacramento attraction, has many treasures that help make the area unique. There are a number of watchable wildlife and education programmes for the birdwatcher, naturalist and school groups including the Bat Talk and Walk put on by the Yolo Basin Foundation. Between May and September, nearly 10,000 bats reside under the Yolo Causeway bridge. During the Bat Talk and Walk programme groups will enjoy a presentation on bat natural history before being carpooled out to the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area to watch the “flyout” of the largest colony of Mexican free-tailed bats in California. The bats emerge in long ribbons as they head out to hunt for insects for the night. To get to the viewing site, the group will caravan through wetlands and rice fields to an area not open to the public. Bat Talk and Walk events begin mid-June and run to mid-September.
For more information www.visitsacramento.com
