Hoots and honks were pretty much the only noise in the air on my recent ride along the American River Parkway bike trail, which is just five minutes from our downtown office. As the sun was setting and dusk was stirring the native wildlife, sights of deer, turkey, squirrel and bunnies were surrounding me.
If you're looking for fun things to do in Sacramento you can't go wrong with spending some time here. There are some true hidden gems in the Captal, one of them is the amount of trails, trees and scenic beauty in the area. 
It had been years since my last journey on the trail and I had forgotten how almost immediately it plunges you into surrounding wild and scenic territory, forbidding manmade noise to penetrate the invisible barrier separating residences, commercial buildings and traffic from intruding. The 32 miles of rural, scenic landscape along the American River is a safe haven from the daily congestion of one’s life.
There were plenty of other humans enjoying the bike trail, either for recreation and fitness purposes or simply as a commute vehicle to get to the University. But even with walkers, joggers, fellow bike riders, etc., there were virtually very few sounds other than that of the water in the nearby rapids or the hooters and the honkers.
