The other night, I did a sunset beach hike, along the sand near Bodega Harbor. To get to the beach, I had to go through some private property and use some unofficial access points because it seemed like the the only way to reach that stretch of land. Turns out that a couple of miles away was a full-fledged public parking lot and access area. Next time I’ll do it right.

There’s a good story by Cathy Bussewitz in the Press Democrat today about how a few of the more popular Sonoma County area state parks are now officially closed on certain weekday for the rest of the summer. No one will kick you out if you’re in there on those days, but no one will be around to help you either. For those who park outside the gates and walk in anyways and bypass the fee, this won’t have any impact. Which kind of demonstrates the problem.

Here’s the full list of the reduced hours:
State parks summer service reductions, from Memorial Day through Labor Day:
Bale Grist Mill State Historic Park: Closed Monday through Friday, open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Bothe Napa Valley State Park: Pool open in June from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, closed Monday through Friday; in July, pool open from noon to 6 p.m. Friday through Monday, closed Tuesday through Thursday.
Jack London State Historic Park: Closed Tuesday and Wednesday; visitor center open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Monday; cottage open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park: Closed Monday through Friday; open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Sonoma State Historic Park: Closed Monday; open Tuesday through Sunday.
Annadel State Park: Channel Drive gate closed Tuesday through Thursday; park hours 8 a.m. to sunset daily.
Sugarloaf Ridge State Park: Reduction in housekeeping and maintenance midweek.

Tomorrow (Friday, June 10) is a public meeting at Spring Lake Park where people can talk about the future of the state parks system. That’s a regional park so there’s a separate admission fee to get into that park, but organizers say that if you tell the gate attendant that you are there for the meeting, the fee will be waived. But my bet is that if you’re there for the meeting, you’re probably willing to pay. Or you made a good decision awhile ago and bought a regional parks pass.

Meeting details: Assemblyman Jared Huffman will host a public hearing on the future of state parks at Spring Lake Regional Park from 4 to 6 ­p.m. Friday. Also attending will be Assemblyman Michael Allen; Sen. Noreen Evans; Ruth Coleman, director of the Department of Parks and Recreation; and Elizabeth Goldstein, president of the California State Parks Foundation. Location: Upper Knoll Picnic Area, 5585 Newanga Ave. Use entrance on Newanga Avenue and park in the Upper Oak Knoll parking lot.

And next weekend is a bike race fundraiser at Annadel:

Bike Monkey will host “Annadel XC,” a mountain-bike race, on June 25 at Annadel State Park. Proceeds will benefit the park, and registration for the race is still open. For more information, contact Greg Fisher, Bike Monkey, 495-3756 or fish@bikemonkey.net.