Auburn River Sex, Nudity Touted on Craigslist

"It's just a quiet (place) where people are free to go naked if they want to," said a man that would only identify himself as Grover. He said he'd been coming to the area for more than 30 years.

But this quiet place has some loud fans. Craigslist.com, a popular online classifieds site, is spreading the news that the area is a prime place for anonymous sex.

"Yes, I've been told about the Craigslist postings," said Guy Cables, who owns Sierra Outdoor Center. "The site, as well as some other gay sites, talk about it so there are some people in the Bay Area who see that and they drive all the way up here to hook up or meet other gay men."

According to many of the men along the stretch of the river on Thursday, the area has been a popular gay meeting spot for years. But it's only become controversial recently.

The river has long been closed to boaters because of a dangerous downstream tunnel. But thanks to a $72 million project to build a pumping station and restore the river channel, the State Parks Department reopened the river last May.

"I've seen a few boats, but when the boats come people are kind of discreet," Grover said.

"Some of the guys would just stand there au natural and just kind of wave as you go by," Cables said. "We just kind of warn people now if they have kids and stuff to be aware there's probably going to be some nudity they'll see."

Executive Director of the Placer County Visitor's Bureau Jan Decker said he would like to see the gay nudists find a new place to hang out.

"We look at the beaches as open to the public," Decker said. "When there are those kinds of things maybe going on there, yeah, it puts kind of a black mark against us."

Decker said state park rangers have told him they will respond to complaints of illegal activity but they simply don't have the resources to constantly patrol the area.