Waterford, CA

Waterford is a Stanislaus County city on the Tuolumne River, east of Modesto and close to the edge of the Sierra foothills, where the valley floor begins to tilt toward Gold Country. State Route 132 is its main street, and County Route J9 reaches Oakdale to the north and Turlock to the south. The name comes from the water. The settlement began as Bakersville, and a ford and ferry crossing on the Tuolumne gave it its present name. The Hickman-Waterford bridge now carries that crossing traffic. Two neighborhoods make up the city. River Pointe is a planned tract on the eastern edge, bounded by the highway and the river. The Waterford neighborhood covers the rest, from the downtown grid to the older streets and the orchard fringe. The river is the city's best outdoor asset. The Tuolumne River Parkway Trail follows the water on an easy path of roughly four miles round trip, and Waterford Riverwalk Park, off South Reinway Avenue, provides access for fishing and paddling. For camping and boating, the lakes at Turlock and Modesto are a short drive away. For a drink and a bite, the Outpost Saloon is the local bar and grill, and the Waterford Historical Museum gives the town's river story a home. Friday evenings in warm months bring a street market, which is the closest thing the city has to a weekly gathering. Daily life runs on Highway 132 and a handful of county roads. StanRTA buses serve the county, and orchards of cherries and walnuts ring the city limits. Weekend plans tend to involve the river, the Friday market or a drive up toward the foothills. What it costs is distance from the region's bigger stores and employers, most of which sit in Modesto. Almost everything about Waterford's layout, from the bridge to the trail, traces back to that crossing.