CA-193 to Lincoln: A Comfort Day Drive in the 2026 Chevy Blazer

Load up the 2026 Chevrolet Blazer, point southwest on CA-193, and spend a November Saturday covering 23 miles of Placer County two-lane before you land in downtown Lincoln for lunch and a walk through Old Town. Straight through, the route takes under 30 minutes. You won’t go straight through, though. Figure on four stops, a genuine comfort read on the Blazer’s cabin, and a clear-eyed look at what it does and does not do well on this exact stretch of road.

November is the right month for this run. Summer on CA-193 bakes the cabin with 95-degree air before the two-zone climate control catches up. By November you’ll get crisp mornings in the low 50s, oak-leaf color still clinging in the lower canyon, zero traffic from the lake crowd, and the kind of light that makes the Sierra Nevada foothills look like a place worth driving through slowly. November wins.

What’s the Route?

CA-193 is a rural highway traversing the lower Sierra Nevada Range, connecting Auburn to Lincoln through open foothill terrain with rolling grades and wide sweeping curves, and because the route gains about 500 feet in elevation from Lincoln to Auburn, you’ll spend the Auburn-to-Lincoln leg on a sustained, gentle descent the whole way down.

The descent matters to the comfort story, and you’ll feel it. On the downhill the 2.0-liter turbo is barely breathing, the nine-speed automatic settles into a high gear early. The cabin goes quiet.

The Four Stops in Detail

Stop 1: Old Town Auburn

Start here, in Old Town Auburn, where the narrow streets and limited parking put the Blazer’s size in context right away. At just under 192 inches long, it slots into the angled spots on Lincoln Way without drama. Grab coffee and walk the block. Rear passengers also meet the first honest thing about the Blazer here, because those in back have to deal with a flat seat cushion and compromised headroom relative to taller two-row rivals. The fix for legroom is real, though. The 2026 Blazer incorporates a sliding rear seat that can be moved forward to expand the trunk or backward to maximize passenger legroom. Slide it all the way back and you’ll see rear legroom opens to 39.6 inches, which handles adults on a half-hour foothill cruise without complaint. Headroom is what it is. Taller folks should know that going in.

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Stop 2: Auburn State Recreation Area Overlook

CA-193 runs just above the North Fork American River canyon for a stretch west of Auburn. SR 193 passes through Cool and the Auburn State Recreation Area corridor before dropping toward the valley floor. There’s a pull-off worth using, a 10-minute stop for fresh air and a canyon view down toward Lake Clementine. In November the river runs higher than August, the oaks are turning, and the air temperature at the canyon rim is a good reminder that two-zone climate control earns its keep. Every 2026 Blazer uses a two-zone climate control system, so the front passenger who runs cold and the rear-seat adult who doesn’t can sort themselves out without an argument.

Stop 3: Newcastle Farm Stand Area

The mid-route stretch of CA-193 around Newcastle passes through open agricultural land where seasonal farm stands operate through the fall harvest. Call it a roadside pull-in, the informal kind, a quick browse for late-season citrus or persimmons and a reason to slow down and notice that CA-193 is a prettier drive than I-80 for this trip. The Blazer shows its highway efficiency here in a useful way, too. With FWD, the 2026 Blazer returns an EPA-rated 22 city and 29 highway mpg. The foothill cruise to Lincoln is close enough to highway conditions that you’re not burning fuel worrying about the return trip.

Stop 4: Historic Downtown Lincoln

The payoff waits in downtown Lincoln, anchored by the Gladding McBean clay factory, established in 1875, with terra cotta work from that factory literally embedded in the building facades you walk past. The center of activity is Beermann Plaza, home to the annual Holiday tree lighting ceremony, concerts in the plaza, and a variety of other annual activities. Come in November and you’re ahead of the holiday crowd but close enough that the downtown shops are stocking well. Lunch, a walk through the historic blocks, and you’re done before the late-afternoon sun starts dropping fast, as it does this time of year.

Lincoln’s Gold Rush Chevrolet team has taken this route in the Blazer. What holds up over the full 23-mile run is the cabin refinement. Active Noise Cancellation is standard on the 2026 Blazer, and on the gentler grades of CA-193 it makes a real difference. The Blazer isn’t a Traverse for road isolation, but it’s noticeably quieter than you’d expect from a sport-tuned mid-sizer. All of that matters when you’ve got a conversation going with the person in the back seat.

• [ ] Coffee before you leave Old Town Auburn (parking tightens once downtown fills up mid-morning)
• [ ] Slide the rear seat to your crew’s preference before the drive, not after
• [ ] Pack light layers for a 50-degree canyon rim at Stop 2 and a 60-degree downtown Lincoln by noon in November
• [ ] Reusable bag for the Newcastle farm stand area
• [ ] Check the Beermann Plaza event calendar before leaving Auburn; Lincoln often has something going on
• [ ] Allow 3.5 to 4 hours total for all four stops; the 23-mile drive is the shortest part

Drive CA-193 Before You Decide

Tweak It to Your Crew

The itinerary above assumes two to four adults riding together, and most of it holds no matter who you bring, but a few details are worth adjusting depending on whether you’ve got tall passengers in back, kids in car seats, or a cargo run to plan around.

Taller rear passengers: Slide that rear seat all the way back before anyone boards. Headroom is fixed, but maximizing legroom makes the rear seat plenty comfortable for a half-hour run. If you’ve got one tall adult in back and don’t need cargo room, give them the full seat travel.

Kids in car seats: Both rear seat positions have LATCH anchors, and the sliding feature still works with a car seat installed. Slide toward the front to leave cargo room for a stroller or gear behind them. The Chevy Traverse is worth a look if you’re regularly hauling two car seats and need a third row of room to grow into.

A longer day: Reverse the direction, start in Lincoln and end at the Auburn State Recreation Area trailhead on Foresthill Road for a late-afternoon walk above the canyon. Foresthill Road connects back to Auburn from the northeast, and you’ll pick up a few miles of genuine foothill road driving that lets the Blazer’s handling show more than CA-193’s gentle grades do.

Cargo-first day: Fold that 60/40 rear seat and you’ve got 64.2 cubic feet of maximum cargo volume. Farmers market haul, hiking gear, photography equipment for the canyon overlook, the Blazer can carry a full day’s collection without creative packing.

By the Gold Rush Chevrolet Team | November 2026