Californians can soon enjoy a new state park at the heart of the Central Valley, the first in about a decade. The Dos Rios preserve, about 90 minutes east of San Francisco, is a lush floodplain filled with green grass, shrubs and native trees like cottonwood, willows and valley oaks.
Visitors can hike through miles of trail beginning this Wednesday, June 12. The park is located eight miles east of Modesto near the convergence of the San Joaquin and Tuolumne rivers.
Until about a decade ago, Dos Rios was a dairy and cattle ranch owned by farmers who grew tomatoes and almonds. But year after year, floods swept through, damaging the crops. In 2012, the owners sold all 1,600 acres to River Partners, an environmental nonprofit dedicated to conservation.