A Press Democrat Blog

Trailhead

A blog about Bay Area hiking…. mostly

Fundraiser that includes a Taylor Mountain hike

Friday, at 9:44 by

From Sonoma County Regional Parks:   “Pasta & Parks Fundraiser Supports Regional Parks June 13, 2013 – Santa Rosa, CA – The Sonoma County Regional Parks Foundation will host “Pasta and Parks before The Big Q,” a fundraiser to support Sonoma County Regional Parks, on Friday, July 12 from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. The family-friendly event will take place at the football field at Sonoma Academy (next to Taylor Mountain Regional Park), 2500 Farmers Lane. The evening will include… Read More »

Taylor Mountain, aka Sonoma County’s newest park, is open

Friday, at 10:17 by

So Taylor Mountain Regional Park has been open for all of three months. It came into public ownership quite a while earlier but it has taken some time and money to develop some trails, a parking area, and the other minimal trappings of a public-access county park. The 1,100-acre open space and nature preserve is a fairly small park in terms of trails. You can circumnavigate the park in a couple of hours and still be leisurely as it has… Read More »

Hike, bike and eat

Friday, at 4:30 by

Not really a hiking thing, but a worthy outdoors/parks program to share (and one that I personally partake in several times during the summer):   From Sonoma County Regional Parks: “Local food trucks, those mobile vendors of delicious street food, return to Santa Rosa’s Spring Lake Regional Park on Tuesday, May 28, and roll into Sebastopol’s Ragle Ranch Regional Park on Thursday, May 30. The trucks will be at Spring Lake from 4 p.m. to dusk each Tuesday and at… Read More »

Wildflower Walks in Regional Parks Begin March 23

Thursday, at 3:11 by

Passing this along from the Sonoma County Regional Parks: “Each spring, Regional Park volunteers lead a series of free wildflower walks in parks throughout Sonoma County. The first walk of 2013 is scheduled for March 23 at Sonoma Valley Regional Park in Glen Ellen, with additional hikes planned in other parks on the following four Saturdays. Master Gardener Phil Dean, who has led nature walks in the county for nearly a decade, will identify and talk about the various flowers… Read More »

Hood Mountain Park road news

Wednesday, at 11:20 by

Press release from the Sonoma County Regional Parks: LOS ALAMOS ROAD ENTRANCE TO HOOD MOUNTAIN REGIONAL PARK CLOSED FOR REPAIRS The Los Alamos Road entrance to Hood Mountain Regional Park will be closed for construction from Wednesday, Sept. 26, through early December. Regional Parks is contracting with Bouthillier’s Construction of Willits to repair a park driveway damaged by the 2005 New Year’s Eve flood. The $756,119 project includes a 335-foot-long retaining wall and is entirely funded by the Federal Emergency… Read More »

Checking in at Annadel

Monday, at 12:57 by

Whenever I need a quick local hike, there’s always Annadel. And such was the case Saturday morning, where we did a pleasant, scenic 7-mile hike in a few hours. It was not the toughest hike, given the unseasonably cool weather, but the views, as always were stupendous. I haven’t followed closely the timing of the switchover of Annadel operation from state control to county management, since I’m a state parks passholder so I figure my access won’t be curtailed, but… Read More »

GUEST POST: Pinnacle & Shorttail Gulch

Tuesday, at 8:49 by

Occasionally, I use this space for posts from guest writers on particular hikes. Today’s is from Brandon Brédo. While he is the supervising ranger for South County parks in Sonoma County, this column is actually about a coastal hike near Bodega Bay. If you’re interested in contributing to this blog and sharing info on hikes you like, send me a note through the comments section or by email. Take it away, Brandon:   Family Friendly Beach Hike:  Pinnacle & Shorttail Gulch Coastal… Read More »

LEARN: Wilderness survival skills

Friday, at 3:06 by

The sun is setting later and later this time of year (8:12 p.m. tonight, woo-hoo!), meaning those post-work and long weekend hikes can easily stretch into evenings. But while no one expects to be caught after dark and lost and stuck for a bit, it does happen. I speak from experience – not personal experience, mind you, but the experience of standing at the end of a trailhead in the middle of the night wondering whatever happened to some of… Read More »

Update: Saturday’s wildflower hike canceled

Friday, at 9:41 by

Wildflowers abound this time of year, and so do free, guided hikes by area groups that are aimed at identifying and exploring cool wildflowers. Below is information from the Sonoma County Regional Parks and from the Sonoma Land Trust, each of which is sponsoring a series of walks in the next few weeks. See all the details below.  UPDATE: This Saturday’s hike at Sonoma Valley Regional Park has been canceled due to the threat of rain. From the Sonoma County… Read More »

Artists for Annadel event

Tuesday, at 9:01 by

There are lots of fundraisers happening this winter and spring, all in support of area parks, but this one may be the most picturesque: A Santa Rosa gallery this Saturday night will be the spot for a art show to benefit the effort to keep Annadel State Park open. The juried exhibition will be at Gallery 300 on South A Street this month. There’s an opening reception from 6-9 p.m. on March 3 and then the show runs through March… Read More »

A trek inside Tolay Lake Regional Park

Tuesday, at 12:31 by

Right now, Tolay Lake looks more like a shallow stream. And the park seems to be a collection of a few old agricultural buildings. On both counts, looks can be deceiving. Welcome to Sonoma County’s second largest regional park, and one that could one day even be much larger when an adjacent tract of open-space land in the southern Sonoma County region is folded into the park. Named for an Indian chief, Tolay Lake itself would be about 400 acres… Read More »

Naturalist-led family hikes at Spring Lake

Wednesday, at 12:09 by

Sharing this news from the ever-active Sonoma County Regional Parks: RAINDROP EXHIBIT, FAMILY HIKES AT SPRING LAKE’S ENVIRONMENTAL DISCOVERY CENTER “Down the Drain: A Raindrop’s Journey from Cloud to Creek” opens today (Feb. 15) at the Environmental Discovery Center at Spring Lake Regional Park. This exhibit offers families a fun, hands-on introduction to the water cycle. Children can pretend to be a raindrop by climbing the “cloud stairs” and then crawling through a model of a storm drain. They can… Read More »