A Press Democrat Blog

Trailhead

A blog about Bay Area hiking…. mostly

Earth Day hikes and more

Monday, at 2:06 by

Plenty of chances to hike on this ‘Earth Day’ weekend (the day is technically Monday, April 22, but that may not be an ideal outdoors day for your schedule): – Pepperwood Preserve, Sunday, April 21.  Guided and self-guided hikes. All-day festival (9 am to 4 pm.) In their words: “Take in 360° views of Sonoma County on a driving tour of Pepperwood or enjoy a wildflower walk with local botanists. View artist Pamela Glasscock’s spectacular watercolor renditions of wildflowers featured… Read More »

GUEST COLUMN: Saving Jack London State Park

Wednesday, at 12:00 by

By Lynn Millar I am a walker, a blogger about walking and a writer. The pending closure of Jack London State Historic Park next summer hits me particularly hard. Last year, the park celebrated its 50th anniversary. A library room opened in the museum at the House of Happy Walls. Several years earlier volunteers restored Jack London’s cottage on Beauty Ranch. He spent the last years of his life here, writing, entertaining friends and running a ‘scientific’ ranch. Jack London… Read More »

Go Giants! (and help state parks too)

Monday, at 2:20 by

In perhaps the feel-good promotion of the summer, the Giants are having a Grateful Dead tribute day in a few weeks as a fundraiser for some Bay Area nonprofits. One beneficiary will be the efforts to keep state parks in Sonoma, Marin and San Francisco counties open. The deal includes a pre-game party inside AT&T Park hosted by Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart (a Sebastopol area resident) and the most famous deadheader-turned-NBA-superstar Bill Walton. You will also get a Sonoma… Read More »

Grim news for state parks system

Friday, at 5:09 by

Here we go again. A year and half after avoiding the budget axe, it was announced today that a quarter of the state park system is slated to be shut down starting this fall. The news shouldn’t be surprising to anyone who has been living through California’s long fiscal nightmare. A day ago, the headlines were about 45 percent (yup, 45 percent) college tuition hikes. A week ago, it was widespread teacher layoffs. The parks closure is going to hit… Read More »