Gibson Ranch County Park

Came for the soul food festival and it was beyond a disaster. I know they couldn’t do anything about the 90 degree heat but it was the most unorganized event I have ever been to. The doors were suppose to open at but didn’t until after 3. We paid extra for VIP and it was so not worth the added price. We went to go find our table and they weren’t labeled so everyone was walking in circles. Half the tables weren’t even labeled nor had covering. At 4:15 some guy came on stage to say sorry about the delay and then left. It’s just a hit dusty mess. The people who hosted this event did a terrible job. As noted we paid extra for the VIP tables and access and there were drunks and others alike who just walked right into the area and were allowed to stay. Security was tragic and the port a potties were a disaster. I’m sure they made so much money off of people that they could of done better. I will never return to the soul food event unless it’s done by other host.

Pretty place… That’s where it ends.
I attended the aftershock concert 2015 (Saturday). Unfortunately for G ranch, the reviews from the concert are going to affect them whether it’s justified or not.
Parking was horrrribbllle. Took us over two hours to get into the parking lot. Then a 15 min walk in the dirt. The website said it was an 8 min walk… The entire parking situation was a mess. Took about the same amount of time to get out of there…
My pet peeve? Whoever set this concert up knew the parking was going to be a problem.
On top of that, they had all these food trucks out there that were closed when the concert ended… Um… There were 20k people (at least) stuck there for hours after the concert. Wouldn’t it make sense to have the food trucks open then???
Security was kind of suspect too. A lot in front of the stage. Didn’t see much else aside from that.
I’ve been to several other festivals. That was by far the worst experience I’ve had. I’d never go back there.

Went to aftershock here. We pre paid for our parking only to wait an hour to park. Totally disorganized! Then, we had to walk about a mile and a half thru the corn rows that were not flattened out. When we finally got to the entrance they made all the women get into a separate line to get patted down. The concert was nice but there were not enough trash cans and I felt like I was in a land fill. Garbage everywhere!!! Where they set up the stages was like in a valley and it was hell of smokey as if you were indoors. Not enough bathrooms. When we left, we couldn’t get to the freeway because they were not allowing left turns. It was as if they had no time to plan. This venue was a huge fail!!! Bands were awesome but they deserved a much better venue!!! I like discovery park much better and will never return to Gibson park again.

I’ve been been to one, and dropped off and picked up my friends at another, show here and the parking situation is the most horrible unorganized venue I have ever experienced. Especially because they make it confusing and difficult for people that are just dropping off or picking up. At the second show they had signs for dropping off in the afternoon, but then at the end, no signs for how to pick, and the roads were blocked off so I couldn’t even get in. My friends almost got hit trying to get out to where I was. On top of that, the first concert I went to they ran out of water on a 90 degree day. I’m glad to have a large venue like this in Sacramento, but they seriously need to get their shit together.

We had our daughter’s wedding here in June. It’s really a beautiful venue and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the day. My problem is that we had said we wanted to pay the deposit to hold the cabins for the day of the wedding and they actually charged us for the deposit AND the rental. I had told them that needed fixing and I thought they did. Then when people came in for the wedding, most of them also paid for the cabins. I have been phoning, texting and emailing for over 4 months to get this straightened out but nobody responds. They’re sitting there with a few hundred dollars of our money and we can’t get in touch with anybody from there. Very frustrating. If they finally get in touch I will adjust my review. Seriously, it’s been over 4 months. Until then. .. Finally received a call back. Was told there had been turnover with the person who was taking over the wedding venue end of things. Was able to receive my $ 725 refund almost exactly 5 months after the event. This needs to be improved. It is a beautiful venue and everyone enjoyed the wedding. We were very glad they had the cabins on site because we were whipped after the wedding.

This place is really a beautiful park. It USED to have a terrific dog park and a cool old guy (lloyd) who did pony rides. The Pony rides are gone and the dog park was closed without notice and without explanation. There is also a really rude guy in a concrete truck that yells at you if you come into the park late. Poor management and a lack of care for the community have replace the old park. Its a great loss to our community.

Would have given five stars BUT… Went to an event with a girlfriend, she ends up misplacing her phone. When we call the venue the next day, they have the phone. great right? A maintenance worker named «Roger» turned it in, they said. Next day when she goes to retrieve her phone, it’s mysteriously missing from the office, where it had been sitting the day before. Her daughter calls the phone and a mystery man (also named ROGER, whatta ya know!) says he does have the phone, but since her daddy «owes him fifty bucks» (they live in an entirely different county, and he’s speaking to a 13 year old) that they can have it back when he gets his money. So she calls the venue again, and all of a sudden it’s «this is so weird, and we can’t disclose if we have a maintenance guy named Roger», even though they clearly said he had the phone, turned IN the phone, and now it’s somehow been «misplaced». «Roger» went on to attempt to blackmail the family out of money for the return of the phone until it was obvious it wasn’t going to be returned, and they shut it off and blacklisted it. Gibson Ranch refuses to acknowledge or take responsibility for the magically reappearing and disappearing phone. Yes, she misplaced it initially, but seriously? That’s how you manage your employees and treat your customers? Good job Gibson Ranch!

2 stars for fishing in general.
5 stars for how much kids can potentially like it.
5 stars for dad and kid quality time alone.
5 stars for interaction with others who have also brought kids — great company to spark up a conversation.
This is a review about fishing only since there is very little info any where online about the quality of fishing or the lake. First and foremost, do not expect to catch a prized fish from this lake. Second, don’t expect a bite everytime you cast, in fact it’s best to assume that when you come out, you’ll leave with nothing. If you want an exciting day fishing and catching keepers, go some where else.
My 7 year old son and I went out on a Saturday morning, and fished from 8am until about 1pm. Online it says the lake is stocked with trout and catfish, so I brought rigs for both. My son can cast and reel on his own, I have a second pole validation so most of the day we had 3 poles in the water.
As for bait, this is what we had, and I tested everything through the day: Nightcrawlers, yellow, pink, and rainbow glitter powerbait, and catfish chum/​blood, raw chicken, and canned tuna. The raw chicken & canned tuna were for my crawfish traps in case I wanted to set them.
I would recommend taking kids who are learning to cast and reel, but if you are a grown man looking to get away and have some fun catching fish, you might want to go somewhere else. My son and I go here because it’s very close, and there is a play structure. We play catch, race, and play soccer while our poles are in the water. It’s that’s kind of park/​lake area.
As for fishing production, we caught about 12 bluegill (babies, all less than 3 inches), which I had no idea they even had in the lake, but trust me it sounds better than it actually is. We fished from both wooden docks, and the cement slab. My son had a small split shot, bobber and very small hook that I’d set a worm on. The first blue gill he caught was by accident, as he reeled in then let his line dangle over the edge of the cement dock. After a while he would let his line sit close to the dock and after a few seconds he’d catch a small bluegill that managed to get it’s mouth around the hook. I’d take it off, he’d throw it back, then do it again. The whole time my two poles were in the water with either nightcrawlers, catfish bait, or powerbait, no bites of any kind all day.
I decided to set canned tuna & a little raw chicken in my crawfish trap and set those just over the dock. After a 2 hours, I pulled it up just to see how this lake does with crawfish. I caught no crawfish, but 6 or so bluegill managed to trap themselves. I opened it, and tossed them back.
If you are still reading, I saved this bit for you. I am 100% positive there is at least 2 catfish measuring about 2 – 3 feet long, and what I can assume to be about 20 – 25 lbs or so, in this lake. The top of the water was breached 4 times that I saw between 9am-​11am, moving pretty slow. Catfish are one of those fish that you can look at from any angle, and know it’s a catfish; no scales, whiskers, big belly, white or light colored stomach, and just general slowness. Whenever you go fishing out here, bring something for catfish. So far the only fish I’m positive about being in this lake are very tiny bluegill, and at least 2(two) catfish.
Fishing teaches kids patience, discipline and appreciation for the outdoors and as a kid, I learned a lot about life while fishing. I’ll definitely take my son back here since it’s such easy access and close to the house. But it’ll be just for the fact that he likes to fish and can catch bluegill all day long.

A great place for family fun. I take my five year old son here to fish for bluegill every few weeks and the bite is great. Picnic tables are plentiful, there is a nice play area for kids, as well as farm animals to look at. The park also features pony rides for $ 5. It was a short ride, but my son loved it, so what are you going to do?
There are many fast food restaurants on Watt on the way into the park, so it is pretty easy to get drive-​thru and eat inside.

We took our kids there to fish at the pond for their first time had a blast catching and releasing of bluegills. …I haven’t been there in about 15yrs teaching the kids how to fish spending family time they won’t forget… we will be back soon when in town again…

Love this place, I go all the time. I’m surprised at the negative reviews about the pony rides because if you call in advance, you can have a pony party! They said they spent $ 200 to rent Picnic tables and parking. I paid $ 300 and got reservations for the ponies rides, mini ponies to pet and feed, picnic area with cowboy settings perfect for pictures, sand area where the kids could «mine for toys», BBQ, and speakers for music. Also a great host who’s old school rancher persona made for a real cowboy atmosphere!

Went on a tuesday afternoon and wasn’t impressed.
Supposedly there is a day use fee but Noone at the front and nothing that states what to do if Noone is up there. We went to the «dog park» there were horses tied up with less than 4ft of rope and no people in sight they had no access to water. People pay to get in here?

Kids love this place, every time we come in we bring a carrot for horses and some snacks for the huge pig and ducks
Kids love to feed them

I do enjoy coming out to the ranch to enjoy nature and see some of the wild life. A great place to bring the family.

After reading other Unilocalers’ reviews and perusing the website, as well as speaking with the staff to inquire about the park’s activities, we reserved spot 2B site unseen for my daughter’s 7^th birthday party. The main attraction was the pony rides offered at the very reasonable price of $ 5 per child. As my daughter wanted a horse party, it seemed like this would be a great deal. We arrived at the park on Sunday afternoon, asked the attendant where we can find the horses for the pony rides, and located our spot. We were immediately swarmed by wasps, like tons and tons of wasps. Whomever partied at this spot previously carefully filled the trash cans to the brim with all sorts of goodies to call the wasps in to the area. We moved the trash cans away from the tables and called for maintenance to empty them, in the hopes that no trash = no wasps. We looked around to other areas and found no such wasp problem elsewhere. Lucky us.
After battling with wasps while awaiting the arrival of all guests, and getting stung in the meantime, we all proceeded to walk over to the pony area for pony rides. After all, this was a pony ride party! When we arrived at the stables we found the «pumpkin patch.» Basically, somebody drove over to Raley’s and picked up some pumpkins to scatter on a small grass patch. No problem, we weren’t there for the pumpkins — we were there for the ponies.
After finally locating the «pumpkin patch» attendant to inquire where the pony rides were located, wherein we were informed there would not be any pony rides as the operator was sick that day. Um, okay. So now I have fifteen disappointed kids and no ponies.
Well, where are your other animals? Your petting zoo? The attendant informs me they do not have any other animals and they do not have a petting zoo… But wait, your website says you have ducks, pigs, geese, cows, chickens, and llamas. Nope.
With our carrots and celery in tow, we were able to find a friendly horse and feed it a few carrots. The kids were able to pet him, which was better than nothing, and we walked back, disappointed with our uneaten veggies in hand, to a wasp-​infested picnic area. The trash was still there.
So basically, I paid $ 150 for picnic tables and a blanket of wasps, plus an additional $ 5 per car to enter the park to attend our waspy picnic table party. I could have saved myself the $ 200+ dollars and held it in my backyard without wasps.
Ridiculous.. I will never again book a party before actually inspecting the site. Lesson learned and my wallet’s lighter to prove it.

The company I work for threw a harvest festival here and I am quite happy they found this location to host their event. This park is spacious, enough to fit all of the stands for: a game of family feud, chilli contest, apple pie contest, and BBQ assortment lunch line. There were also vendors set up near the entrance selling jewelries and clothes. This place is beautiful, but unfortunately it was a hot day when coming here. That didn’t stop me from playing a long game of volleyball, tossing horseshoes and playing tug-​o-​war though! (Oh and I also won playing 1 on 1 tug-​o-​war against my former supervisor, BOOYA!)
Overall it was a fun day. I also got to watch the horse show! I wanted to ride one too but sadly they didn’t allow us at that time. So glad I got to take a half day of work off just to relax here and enjoy the festivities with the people I work with.

Not the park but the cliental. I was there alone with my 3 young sons. One of my 9 year olds was assaulted by another child. It took a phone call to the staff and a few family members to resolve the situation. I am stunned that the only one to help me was a young boy who was staff who should never have been put in this position. Love the park but it has changed. Won’t bring my children back there ever. Control the public drinking and the acts that come of it.

The place is absolutely beautiful! I go there for a few birthday parties, and I also know that they have a driving range (for the golfers out there) but mainly, I love it for the scenery! They make for an amazing photography spot!!! If you follow the road all the way down, it’ll lead to to trail and the trail is right next to a creek!!! It’s not deep at all, maybe knee deep at most, and the water is extremely clean. You can see right through it. I found that the best time for pictures is after 7pm in the summer. (No awkward shadows, but still light enough to get a great shot). Overall, it’s amazing.

Came for a dog show. Staff was nice. Ticket booth was really slow in collecting parking fees after a while of sitting we decided to try and see what’s going on and the ticket person was moving at sloth speed.
All in all, ok. They had water hoses avail for the dogs. Also horse/​pony rides.

A beautiful, sprawling park located in an area of Sacramento I never, ever would have come had it no existed. They have everything here, from major events to BBQ’s to horse back riding to simple places to hike and enjoy a break from the hustle and bustle of suburban/​city life. In the middle of it all sits a large park with all the immenities like bathrooms, tables and water fountains and a stunning pond.
It may be out of the way for many of us, but believe me, it’s worth going out of the way for.