(The full name of this cache is "Chicken Ranch Slough (H.51): Creekside Nature Area, abridged" but it wouldn't fit on the line!)
You are looking for a 3"X7" camoed cylinder. This is a park area and is daylight use only. This area was created when there was an elementary school here and was a learning tool maintained by the students. It was then opened to the public. The school is now used for adult education, but DO NOT USE THE SCHOOL for access. There is an walkway access off of Lacy Lane at N38 36.896 W121 23.643. Make an immediate left after you cross the first bridge. The area is a delightful little hidden corner. The cache is on the Nature Area side of the creek and you do not need to get your feet wet. If your GPSr tells you a different story, explain to it the concept of Circular Area of Probability and refer back to your geosense.
This replaces the cache of (almost) the same name that was on the other side of the nature area. It was getting muggled too much. Since location and type of hide is so different, we're inviting you all back to see this place again!
This is Chicken Ranch Slough. It is now a suburban drain. At one time it must have been a carefree stream, meandering about the countryside on its way to the swamp that is now Sacramento. In the summertime it must have dried up as there was no rain to sustain it. The namesake place was somewhere up near Carmichael Park. As housing built up around it, the slough was constrained to its current bed. In some places it is concreted. Here it runs behind residential back yards and next to a schools grounds and is relatively unfettered. It starts near Carmichael Park and courses down, running roughly from northeast to southwest where it joins Strong Ranch Slough near Hurley Way and Ethan Way behind Cal Expo. In strong local rains it can flood residences down there when it gets too much for the pumps to push over the levee.