Elk Grove

Elk Grove is a Sacramento County city on Highway 99, a short drive south of the state capital. It grew up as a farming and stagecoach stop, and that past survives in Old Town, a few blocks of older buildings around Elk Grove Boulevard. The rest of the city is mostly newer neighborhoods, schools and shopping centers on flat valley land. Visitors do not come here for a long list of sights. They come for a calm, affordable base, some good birdwatching nearby and an easy way to reach Sacramento, the Delta and the wine towns to the south without city traffic.

Old Town Elk Grove is the heart of the visitor side, with local shops, restaurants and small community events. Elk Grove Regional Park is the city's main green space, with a lake, shaded picnic areas and Strauss Island, a stage in the middle of the water used for concerts. Elk Grove Park, on Elk Grove-Florin Road, is home to the autumn pumpkin festival. The real draw for nature lovers is the Cosumnes River Preserve, just south of the city near Galt, where flat trails cross oak woodland, wetlands and open fields. Birds are the main attraction, and canoes can be launched on the sloughs.

Elk Grove is a suburban dining town rather than a food destination, and that is its charm. Old Town has cafes, bars and sit-down restaurants that fill up on event days, and the main roads hold a wide range of Asian, Latin American and American places that reflect the city's many communities. There is little in the way of late-night life, so most travelers head north to Sacramento for bars and shows. A better plan is a morning at the preserve in the cooler months, when cranes and geese arrive, followed by a slow dinner in Old Town.

Hotels sit mostly near Highway 99 and the main shopping areas, with easy parking everywhere. Old Town has a handful of restaurants close together and suits anyone who wants to walk to dinner. Elk Grove is spread out and designed for cars, so plan to drive between Old Town, the parks and the preserve. The city's bus service is run by Sacramento Regional Transit, but it is limited outside the main routes. There is no Amtrak station in Elk Grove, and Sacramento International Airport is the closest major airport, a short drive to the northwest.

Autumn is the best time to visit. The Giant Pumpkin Festival lands in October, and the first sandhill cranes arrive at the Cosumnes River Preserve in the fall, with the best viewing running into the winter. Spring brings green fields and wildflowers along the preserve trails. Summers are hot and dry, with Strauss Festival concerts in the park in July as a reason to come out at night. Winters are cool and wet, and valley fog can linger. One day covers Old Town and a visit to the preserve. Two days leave time for Sacramento or Lodi.

Elk Grove sits on Highway 99, which runs north into Sacramento and south toward Lodi, Stockton and the San Joaquin Valley. Interstate 5 lies to the west and runs the length of the valley, while the foothill towns of the Gold Country are an hour or so to the east. It works as a calm overnight between Sacramento and Lodi wine country, or as a cheaper base for a Sacramento weekend. Travelers coming by rail should plan to arrive in Sacramento and continue by road, since Elk Grove has no intercity train station.