“Have a cool day in Cool, California!”
California has many cool places.
But residents of which place can take pride in
living in a community officially named Cool?
Those of El Dorado County's
unincorporated community of Cool, a few
miles south of Auburn and about
40 miles east of Sacramento.
And what is so cool there?
Well, from a recreationalist's point of view, it is the
access (just from behind the fire station) to the
Auburn State Recreation Area
(ASRA)—a
“playground” for equestrians, mountain bikers and day
hikers.
Cool is the gateway to the
Olmstead Loop Trail
(named for
Dan Olmstead)
and all those other
trails that intersect with this loop trail or branch away towards the
American River.
The trails traverse meadows and open oak woodland. On a hot day you want
to bring a lot of water to stay cool around Cool.
Shade and cooler air is found in the
canyons of
Knickerbocker Creek
and
Salt Creek
which have dense, riparian vegetation.