Boating

Still waters at Lake Solano County Park Boating can be a bit challenging within Davis because there are so few large bodies of water within city limits — most of the water in town is suitable only for paddle boating hand-launched vessels. Typically, rowing sculls and power boating must be done outside of Davis. Despite the dearth of suitable locations for the various types of boating, it remains a popular activity within our populace, so here we attempt to provide a listing of nearby waterways in which to boat.

In Davis

Flat Water Paddling

• Arboretum
• Putah Creek
• Stonegate Lake (Stonegate Country Club members only.)

Local

Not so far away... less than twenty miles

Flat Water Paddling

• Lake Solano County Park
• Port of Sacramento
• Sacramento River

Rowing Sculls

• Port of Sacramento Washington basin

Sailing

• Davis Sailing Team
• http://lwsailing.org / Lake Washington Sailing Club

Power Boating

• Sacramento River

Regional

Somewhat farther afield

Flat Water Paddling

• Lake Natoma / Sac State Aquatic Center (Kayak rentals for cheap!)
• Cache Creek
• Folsom Lake
• Lake Berryessa
• Lake Hennessey
• Lake Natoma (trip report)
• Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta Tower Park

Float Tubes

• Tubing Float tubes (innertubes) provide the ultimate economy & simplicity in personal watercraft.

White Water

see Rafting

• American River
• Cache Creek
• Putah Creek

Rowing Sculls

• Lake Natoma

Sailing

• Sac State Aquatic Center Take a class, or private lesson to rent a Laser, Pico, Holder 14 or Holder 20 Keelboats. Sailing club membership allows unlimited access.

Power Boating

• American River
• Folsom Lake
• Lake Berryessa

Ocean

• San Francisco Bay
• Tomales Bay
• Sonoma Coast
• Bodega Bay
• Beaches provides driving directions and a brief description of some access points for ocean beaches and some river beaches

Resources

• BRT Kayaking California river guides, trip reports, photos, techniques, book reviews.
• California Creeks is a guide to many California rivers
• DavisKayakers Group This is an attempt to gather local kayakers together so that we can meet each others, plan trips.
• Davis Racing Dragons is a campus group that paddles big racing boats
• Houseboats offers information on the UC Davis houseboating tradition
• Kev's Mom has great information on river running & the site owner has strong connections to Davis
• Outdoor Adventures staff can provide lots of firsthand information on local waters and their site has additional information
• Raft Wet
• River City Rowing Club is a private Sacramento rowing club
• UC Davis Crew is UC Davis' rowing club
• SF American river trips - All-Outdoors Rafting
• Tuolumne river rafting information

2005-11-16 10:27:08   I wonder how paddling and boating should work together. Right now they're very similar but I guess that they can stay seperate if they both get more information. In the future we might have a motor boating page, a paddling page, a waterskiing page, .... —JackHaskel

• Seems like paddling, motorboating, sailing, etc. ought to be subsets of boating.

2006-06-05 19:24:51   I recommend Tower Park in the Sacramento Delta, it can be reached on HWY 12 from either end of the Delta. A campground, secluded inlet with docks, and a launch ramp not too far away. —KarlMogel

2007-04-19 07:11:29   i'm a new transplant to cali and davis...but does anyone know of opportunities for sailing and friendly regattas that are within an hour's drive time? i mean 420's, FJs, Mumm 30s, J22s, Melges 24, hobie cats etc.

cheers! —AshleyMarie

2009-07-20 14:13:32   Hi AshleyMarie. I'm from the Davis Sailing Team. Are you a student? If so we'd love to have you on the team. We race CFJs and Lasers on the collegiate circuit. If you are not a student we can set you up with our host club, Lake Washington Sailing Club, which is only 20 min away in West Sac. They have beercans every Thursday in the summer and regattas through out the year. —jadeeyes1113