A Press Democrat Blog

Trailhead

A blog about Bay Area hiking…. mostly

Willow Creek to Pomo Canyon to Shell Beach

Monday, at 10:08 by

After approximately 200 hikes in the past four years, I get very excited at the prospect of a new one, especially one right here in Sonoma County. Sometimes a new hike can be a combination of some well-known hikes stitched together a different way, or can include a new segment tacked on to an existing one. My setting last weekend was a point-to-point hike taking me from Willow Creek, located at Duncans Mills, all the way to the Pacific Ocean,… Read More »

Trailhead heroes all around

Wednesday, at 10:35 by

With the first weekend of March ahead and a forecast of more spring-like temperatures ahead, many, including myself, will be out hiking more and more. When I stop and think about all the options for outdoors activities, especially walks and hikes, in this area, it is staggering. In addition to the well-known network of city, regional and state parks, there are lots of other open space places to explore. These places are protected through easements, extensive deals, legacy bequests or… Read More »

Exploring Bohemia Ranch

Friday, at 8:47 by

I loved that the guide for my recent hike at the nature preserve at the Bohemia Ranch advised us that if we were looking for the nearby Bohemian Grove protest that was happening simultaneously, we were at the wrong place. Our setting was a small jewel of the earth about three miles north of Occidental – the Bohemia Ecological Preserve. It is a 554-acre parcel of land on the east side of Bohemian Highway, rising gently upward to several scenic vistas.… Read More »

Into the Jenner Headlands

Tuesday, at 12:50 by

Drive about four miles north of the town of Jenner on Highway 1 and all that open space on the east side of the highway that you’ve just passed is the Jenner Headlands. Or, is it, ‘are’ the Jenner Headlands? In any case, in a year or two, there will be a small parking area, restrooms and trailhead, and ways for you to pull over, park and hike into the 5,630 areas of open space that looks down over the… Read More »

A warm day at Freezeout Flat

Tuesday, at 9:59 by

Back in 2005, when a 3,373-acre patch of land near the Sonoma Coast came into public ownership, it was envisioned that it would one day be part of the state parks system. That made sense as the land – known as Willow Creek – was adjacent to Sonoma Coast State Park. But that was then, and this is now, an era where there’s little public funding for anything, especially parks. So the Willow Creek property is in that sort-of-closed, sort-of-open… Read More »

Exploring the Riddell nature preserve

Wednesday, at 12:58 by

Following the heels of the recent good news about trails at the Montini Ranch property and the transfer into public hands of Mount Konocti comes this nugget. The Riddell nature preserve, about 400 acres of land west of Healdsburg, will now get some attention from LandPaths, the non-profit group that has owned the property since 2007. According to this Press Democrat story, the group will develop some campsites and docent-led tours, now that some easement issues with the county’s open… Read More »