This was a great hike.  Parts of it reminded me of the East Bay Parks hikes with rolling hills.  It's a multi-use trail so you'll encounter mountain bikers and equestrians, but all were very nice.  There are a series of loop trails here, so you can pick and choose the ones you want to make as long or short a hike as you like.  We hiked around the circumference, which was about 6.4 miles.  From the trailhead we took Cronan Ranch Road a short distance and then turned left onto the "Down and Up Trail".  This took us down to the South Fork American River.  Commercial outfitters have placed a lot of port-a-potties along this part of the river for the rafters.  We walked along the river and then headed back up into the hills.  We stopped at an abandoned movie set, which was a Western ranch set.  From here we headed back toward the river, but then took a sharp right on Western Ridge Trail, which as the name suggests leads you along the ridge line back to the trailhead.

Lots of picnic tables (and port-a-potties if needed)