Mather Field Lake Regional Park

$ 5 parking, trash everywhere, questionable people. The «lake» is actually a large pond.

Great park to take the kids or stroll! There is a a little lake full of ducks! Seems to be a nice place to have a picnic or birthday party. There is even a small dock for fishing. Beautiful scenery tucked away in Rancho Cordova/​Mather. Bathrooms are exceptionally clean for park bathrooms. No smells of urine, even on the men’s side from what my sons tell me. Definitely a go to place on a beautiful afternoon.

1. Dog friendly park
2. Nice lake for fishing
3. Paved walking path
4. Two large play areas for the kids to play
5. Restrooms available (dirty)
Overall a nice park and area to stretch your legs after a long drive

*Rate is only for the fishing experience
For the interested fishermen,
I’m an experienced largemouth bass fisherman who decided to give this pond a try. I began fishing at 1 pm and left at 4 pm. I fished stick baits (different colors) and drop shot (finesse worms), these two baits ALWAYS catch me at least one fish. But of course, not one single bite. I left disappointed and with $ 5 less in my wallet. My recommendation is save your time and money and fish somewhere else.

My first time to this park with my daughter. We were driving by and saw this park. My daughter wanted to go check it out. We were there maybe 20 minutes and came back to a ticket on my windshield. Guess i didn’t see the pay yourself parking sign. Not seeing this sign cost me $ 57.50. Needless to say I wont be back to this place. I feel like a total sucker.

I have a couple questions for any regulars, or even anyone who’s been here once or twice that would be willing to help me out? :)
Does this park have enough scenic nature views for photography purposes that is worth the parking fee?
And are dogs allowed?
Please and thank you! xoxo

Kids park is ok but not worth 5 bucks. And trust me you will get a $ 60 ticket if you dont pay. The grass is literally covered in goose crap. Fishing from shore is marshy and nasty. Plus TICKS!!! Its decent fishing if you have a boat but its down the road from a shooting range so you hear the gun shots all day. It’s kind of scenic from the lake but you cant really have a good beach front anywhere on the lake. Ticks, poop and litter.

If you’re a fisherman this place could be very frustrating without some kind of boat. Too much under growth causes plenty of snags

This park is pretty nice, it has a pretty big playground area for the kids, lots of grass area, has a lake next to it to fish too… THE only bad thing was there were so much geese and ducks that they poop all over the place… soooooOOo much that it made me felt disgusted so beware of poop.

First thing first. $ 5 dollar parking fee.
Keeping that in mind the money is well spent. The park is properly maintained, grass cut, little to no litter, tables clean, trees for shade, a playground area, and a covered area. This is everything before you hit the lake.
Mather Lake is there only for fishing (no swimming) which is a good thing. Went in the summer, which means algae growth, but the lake is still fish-​able. This lake contains black bass and trout.
Fishing can be done from the shore, plenty of access points, and also the mini dock from the «boat launch» area. The boat launch area is just dirt path into the lake, although shady, it is doable.
Boats, pontoons, float tubes, kayaks can all go in the water as long as its man powered or electric motors.
I was out there fishing for 4 hours and got only two bites from bass one being 5inches and the other 13inches, both caught off the dock.
Tip: Take a look inside the park before you pay the fee and make the judgement first.

This is a beautifully preserved area to fish, exercise or get in touch with your inner John Muir. It may be a little out of the way for most who are looking for a quick commune with nature, but its conveniently located for the residents of the various suburbs surrounding Mather airport. Between the lush greenery of downtown Sacramento and the majestic Sierra mountain range in the distance, it’s easy to overlook the beauty of the foothills and outlying Sacramento Valley. Here is a park that preserves the area much as it was before much of it was leveled by developers and occupied by a$%holes like myself. It’s great for a barbecue or picnic with the family. The only downside is that they charge $ 5 for parking even though the lot is usually half empty. But I can understand this considering the budget cuts our parks have faced since the economic crisis began.

Pros:
Beautiful, natural park with a nice lake and lots of wildlife to view.
Great place to have a small, quait picnic or a huge summer BBQ.
Playground for the kiddies.
Bathrooms.
A nature walk with plaques follows around on side of the lake.
You can hang out a bit here after you play a round of golf or just hit balls (which is what I ended up doing).
Peaceful and quiet (in winter at least).
Cons:
It’s pretty much out in the middle of no where (this is probably a pro).
You have to rent out the space if you want to hold an event there.
Parking was $ 5 (come on, I only wanted to walk around and observe… I kept a close eye out on my car and was not ticketed, thank goodness).

It’s been a few years since we used this park as an outdoor party area. My favorite thing about this place is the covered canopy… it’s a great way to escape the sun, at least until just before dusk. The sun is merciless at the time, and there’s no way to avoid it if you’re facing the parking lot.
Being right near the lake is nice and I’ve seen many use it for fishing purposes. I’ve never used it, as I’ve usually been too busy guzzling beer from a keg (with the appropriate permits, of course!). Something else to note: there aren’t any stores nearby, so stock up on charcoal, lighter fluid, etc. prior to the event. Otherwise, you’ll have the travel to Folsom Blvd. to hit the Wal-​Mart or Safeway.
Also notable: the BBQs are under the canopy, which is great when the chef doesn’t want a nasty sunburn on the back of their neck. And the kid park is about 25 yards away, tons of grass, but very few trees.
The price for the rental is decent and the rangers have always been kind. Just pack it up prior to dusk or they’ll herd you out like cattle.

This is a great place for a close fishing trip. I highly recommend coming here in the spring and summer month especially if you’re teaching kids how to fish. And yes, they plant trout in the lake during fall to spring. Hundreds of Sunfish also provide consistent action during the warmer month and occasionally a lunker catfish can be caught by fishermen working early morning with liver and crawlers. Carp are also found in the lake but because of the angling pressure, these carp feed mostly towards early morning due to the ruckus caused by anglers.
The lake produces some pretty big bass during prespawn and spawn in March but because it’s heavily fish, the bass here are spooked pretty easily by anyone approaching the shoreline.
The best way to target these «hawgs» is to invest in an inflatable and get yourself out there to the lake and fish the weedy drop offs. Toss senkos, jigs with craw trailers and you’ll find a lot of success. I don’t recommend deep diving crankbaits for this lake due to it’s heavy weed growth but shallow crank baits will be quite rewarding during fall. Yes… a lot of people out there on the lake are bucket grabbers… You’ll see the «bucket grabbers» from March till July before the bass feeding pattern change completely and they no longer feed near the shore.
Great little lake in an urban environment though…

Amanda totally ran home from the bday and beat me to it!!!
I loved this park. I rented it for the PF’s 40^th Piratefest. Specifically, the Rotary Grove
PICNIC SITE ROTARY GROVE — $ 125.00 — Site capacity 300 — Seats 200 — Electricity — Water– Covered Tables — Near Restrooms — Large BBQ
(916) 875‑6336
Best way to get there: Hwy 50 to Sunrise South, go to Douglas and hang a right, go to Eagle’s Nest Road, hang a left, park. If you follow the county’s instructions, it takes you through the closed Mather AFB, and that my friends, was a pain in the ass.
You can snag it when it’s not reserved, but for the reservation, you can have alcohol and not worry about being annoyed by county personnel., as well as the fact they hosed it down before I got there and they stocked the potties with towels, soaps, and TP. It costs attendees/​park goers 4 bucks cash to park there, but it goes to park facilities maintenance.
The playground I never got around to walking around in, but it’s big, has slides and swings, and they’ve planted a few shade trees there.
The wood picnic structure was the key for me. I needed to sort of transform it (with some serious streamer action from Amanda) into a pirate ship with sails and rigging (translation, streamers, plastic white tablecloths strategically billowing, plastic rats and chocolate coins on the table, plus a plethora of jolly rogers flapping.) The wooden pilings, the covered main picnic area, and the high ceiling lent itself perfectly to my purpose. There are also long buffet/​food prep areas. And you can access the electricity at no less than 4 or 5 different outlets on the buffet and strategically around the site. It is usable/​open until dark, which means potentially that you could hang twinkle lights and go mad; not sure about live music, but I’m thinking anything is possible with the right deposit.
Anyway. I highly recommend this place; before I found it, I was looking into Discovery Park. For the same amount of money, you can have crowds, crowds and more crowds of né’erdowells and annoying drunken frat jerks.
At Mather, we just got a few families, a few fishermen, and a couple o’random children who popped over from the playground to check out the cupcakes.
Other boons: lake for fishing (bass, bluegill and sunfish mostly, although two drunken early risers who were there when I was setting up tried to tell me there were tuna in the lake. Like I’m THAT gullible.) Canoes are welcome. Bike trail for bikers.

I had never been to this park. Its a great place to have a birthday party, and is totally kid friendly with a playground.