I live about an 1 1/4 hours out of Sacramento in the Sierra Nevada foothills. I can't comment on Sacramento proper. But for recreation, the mountains are really close! Fun cold weather things like skiing in the winter and then excellent mountain experiences in the summer: hiking, boating, rock climbing etc... I'm sure that lots of the 'valley' folks come up to the sierra for their weekend adventures!!
We drive the I-5 corridor to Seattle fairly often to visit family. I love coming through the Klamath mountains, so beautiful!!! (So much nicer than the drive through southern California to L.A. )