Rocklin has owned the old Sunset Whitney Country Club for eight years, so why is a block of pickleball courts the first thing it has built there? The new 16-court complex sits on the clubhouse footprint, next to the club's old tennis concrete, and it uses the club's old parking lot. Nearly everything else in the long-range plan for the 184 acres is still a drawing.
That order makes sense once you see what each piece cost, what it reused, and what still has to clear the City Council.
The courts landed where the clubhouse stood
The city bought the property in 2018 for $5.8 million. The club had closed in 2015. Since then the city has cleaned up the grounds and added about three miles of walking trails, Gold Country Media reported in late September. The council approved a master plan on February 14, 2023, and it put a 16-court pickleball facility in Phase One. The first location was not the clubhouse site. An October 2025 city staff report explains the change:
"In 2024 the Master Plan was revised to relocate the pickleball courts from the original proposed location adjacent to residences on Midas Avenue to where the former clubhouse was located."
The move kept lighted courts away from the homes along Midas. The same report says staff spent months working with the utilities already on the site, naming SPMUD, PG&E, and wireless providers, before the final construction plans were done.
What the club left behind is doing the work
The design reuses the old club wherever it can. Fences and gates split the 16 courts, and overhead lighting covers them. Two courts have bleachers so the complex can host tournaments. The concrete from the old tennis courts on the east end stays as a gathering and staging area for players and spectators. ADA-compliant paths connect the courts to the existing parking lot.
The plan for the whole park works the same way. The city's January 2026 environmental notice calls for reusing the golf course's cart paths and bridges where possible. That is why the loops you can walk today follow the old course layout. Hikers on AllTrails describe two of them:
- Sunset Whitney Recreation West Trail: an easy loop of about 2.6 miles, open year-round. A September review mentions the large free lot and a paved, mostly flat route.
- Sunset Whitney South Loop: about two miles. It starts at the big lot off Midas Avenue on the north side and crosses Argonaut Avenue at the southeast end. Recent reviews describe a mix of paved and dirt path with little shade.
The plan's environmental filing lists other ways in besides the Midas Avenue driveway and lot. People on foot or bike can enter from Midas Avenue, Argonaut Avenue, Whitney Boulevard, and Sunset Boulevard.
The money explains why pickleball went first
The courts cost about half of what the city paid for the entire property. In March 2026, city staff recommended a construction award of $2,529,269, plus a $379,391 contingency, for a total of $2,908,660. The city's Capital Improvement Program already had $2,515,049 set aside, which left $393,611 to find. A $400,000 grant from Placer Valley Tourism helped close that gap, according to Gold Country Media.
City officials have said the complex will handle spectators, league play, and tournaments, which is why two courts have bleachers.
The city set a free public ribbon cutting for Wednesday, Oct. 7, from 5 to 7 p.m. at 4201 Midas Ave., with free lessons afterward. For court availability, programs, and reservation rules, Gold Country Media points readers to the city's recreation department. The city's Sunset Whitney Recreation Area page is the place to start.
The next piece arrives from the east side
The next funded project is a link to Johnson-Springview Community Park, which is outside the park's borders. The city is putting a footbridge of about 170 feet over Antelope Creek to connect Johnson-Springview with the Sunset Whitney trails. It is a steel truss bridge shipped in three spliced sections.
Gold Country Media called it a "mail-order bridge." The council voted unanimously on Feb. 10 to buy the prefabricated span from Contech Engineering Solutions of Roseville for $414,628.50. That is a small share of the $1.7 million connector project in the city's five-year capital plan. In 2024 the city approved $1.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to buy and install the bridge. Fabrication can take up to nine months, so staff bought the bridge before the construction contract to keep permits and site design on schedule. Mayor David Bass said the crossing would give students and families near Springview Middle School and Parker Whitney Elementary a safer route, according to the same article.
The February city staff report set the timeline:
- Design finished by spring 2026
- Bids requested in early summer
- Construction and bridge delivery in fall 2026
- Completion by year-end, before the rainy season
Those dates are the city's target. The project also needs a Streambed Alteration Agreement from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Once the bridge is up, the trail network will reach east to Johnson-Springview at 5480 5th Street, and the Midas lot will no longer be the main way in.
What's still on paper
The rest of the plan is a long list. The environmental filing for the full master plan describes a central "Hub" and a set of features beyond it.
Planned for the Hub:
- A memorial and rose garden, plus a plaza and pavilion
- An adventure and mountain-bike area
- An amphitheater
- A recreation center of about 18,000 square feet
- A wildlife preserve with viewing areas and an arboretum
- A restored pond with a boardwalk
- An active play area
- The pickleball courts, the one Hub piece now built
Planned outside the Hub:
- Natural and cross-country trails, including a one-mile loop
- Mountain-bike trail features
- A park on Sunset Boulevard
- A play area on Argonaut Avenue
The city's notice also mentions a veterans memorial and a multi-use building among the later amenities. The public comment period on that environmental document ran from January 23 to February 23, 2026. The notice said the council would take it up at a public hearing that had not yet been scheduled. The pickleball courts have a construction budget and the bridge has ARPA money. None of the other Hub features has a published phase date or funding source yet.
Using the place before the rain
For now, the old golf course is three miles of trails, a large lot off Midas Avenue, and a new court complex where the clubhouse once stood. The South Loop has little shade, which matters less as the days cool. The Rocklin Community Farmers Market runs from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Quarry Park Adventures, 5373 Pacific Street, on Oct. 24 and 31 and on Nov. 7, 14, 21 and 28, according to the city calendar.
Rich Gibbens follows projects like Sunset Whitney because they change how the streets around Midas, Argonaut, and Whitney Boulevard feel day to day. If you have questions about what the bridge or the next phase could mean for your part of Rocklin, Rich Gibbens can walk you through it plainly. Let's Connect.
