River Bend Park

My favorite local park. You'd never even know such a beautiful spot was this close to town. I love the bike trails and the water!Keep your dogs on a leash, there are coyotes here!

I knew I'd been here before: it is apparently the former Goethe Park. Yep, renamed because of dude's past...just looked it up. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Goethe) If you call it "Gaytee" park, that's incorrect but people tend to know where you are talking about. Would ride the bike trail through here before, passing the river but never stopped to throw my feet in. That all changed, as I 1) didn't have a bike and 2) had a dog. Paying for parking is on the honor system. It's $5 per car and cash and credit card payments are accepted. Didn't even look at the overflow parking, as we came on a weekday so most parking was open. The water was low and nothing was too rapid. Went in up to my waist and the water was plenty warm to hop out and drip dry. Weekday visit meant fewer people. There were a few and they all kept to themselves. Or my dog is just that ferocious!!!

I fell in love with this place from the very first time I was brought here(: I absolutely love this park; there is so much to do! There's a giant lawn area for picnics and gatherings, there's separate a hiking and bike trail and it has a section connected to the American river I came in the springtime; everything was so green and beautiful

This place is great and simple fun for kids.I have children ages 11, 6, and 2 years old and they loved coming here. It is very rocky but we brought a big mat, folding chairs, and canopy. We also brought a speaker for music. A nice place to relax and kids loved getting outdoors especially during COVID there's lots of space for social distancing.By the parking lot there's a big flat grass area to have a picnic, a party, and or play sports. A great place for biking nice trails. I recommend

Love this park! If you arrive early enough you'll see lots of coyotes, turkeys, big birds, fishes, and many other wild animals. Mid afternoon is the water is fresh and warm enough to swim in. I recommend this place to anyone looking for nature walks or peace and quiet time.

Big nice area. Just be careful the pebbles everywhere on the river. Trails are nice for a long or short walk.

River Bend Park, formally Goethe park is the typical ending spot for a 3-5 hour float along the American River. The first parking lot on the left side is normally where my friends and I park when we make our floats. There is a bathroom there, not sure how clean it is. The parking lot is on the smaller side. I have had to drive around a few times before finding a parking spot- so get there early if planning to float the American. When you finish your float there is plenty of shade which makes it a great place to detox while one waits for their rides and/or deflates the flotation devices.If the first lot is too full, try going to the second lot, the second turn off to the right. It become a dirt road, if you drive all the way back there is a roundabout that also has water/river access. There is a dirt trail that will lead you from the first parking lot/ending point of float and this one. Perfect to get to while everyone else deflates and detoxes at the end

Not the best park for kids but this is a very important public area for those that raft the American River from Sunrise Boulevard River Access Point to River Bend Park. Exit the river on the left on the huge beachfront and it's a short walk to the parking lot with your rafts. There is a ton of parking and huge grass areas to relax after a long day on the river. There are bike trails and walking trails all over this massive park along with picnic tables and BBQ pits If you want to get some exercise or walk your dog.

Yay for White Water Rafting & River Bend Park to End the Day of Fun!SITREPLast Saturday, our buddy Minh planned a day of white water rafting. This was the meet-up location and the planned post-rafting BBQ site. It was a $5 charge to get into the park which was a small price to pay for being here.SETUPEveryone was driven further up the American River around Nimbus Dam to be released on the rafts and inner-tubes. I stayed with Minh at River Bend Park to prepare for the BBQ.We got a grill site location with picnic tables and began the set-up on the tables with the sides. POST-RAFT BBQGot some great pics of the raft-arrivals from the river and they had a good time. After raft-deflation, we packed up the rafting gear and focused on the BBQ. With music, food and drinks, we had a great time.THE LOWDOWNRiver Bend Park is an awesome location to enjoy the outdoors, either as a picnic by itself, or as the close to a wonderful time of rafting.

got there around 1 pm, and we were lucky to find a spot, ( so if really want a great spot close to the river, plan to be there early) hot day, and with the cold water perfect combination, the fee was $6.00.