Sonoma High

Hike The New North Sonoma Mountain Regional Park

03.24.2015

The Bay Area Ridge Trail will one day connect over 500 miles of trail along the hills and ridgelines to make one big Bay Area loop. So far, over 350 miles have been completed, and the North Sonoma Mountain Regional Park is one of the newest pieces to this impressive puzzle. The gorgeous park just north of Jack London State Park has some of the richest biodiversity in Sonoma County. Explore the terrain and enjoy the vistas on a 4-mile (round-trip) hike. Early on you'll pass a small redwood grove with two picnic tables set close to a burbling creek. Cross a wooden bridge and begin a gentle ascent up a trail clearly demarcated by large stones lining the pathway. Also lining the landscape right now: wildflowers! Get your Easter colors when you pass by newly blooming beauties like shooting stars, Douglas iris, and California poppies. As you start onto switchbacks there's a small pond with a few lucky ducks quacking about. You'll feel like a lucky duck too, walking under a canopy of live oaks, valley oaks, buckeys, madrones, and Douglas firs. Parts of this trail seem designed by an artist, as the arms of oak trees twist overhead and lush spring greenery runs from ground to tree. The main trail is the Ridge Trail, and it connects all the way to Jack London State Park. For the 4-mile (round-trip) hike, ascend to the Bennett Valley Overlook, which will be your turnaround point. Just don't turn around until you've taken in the views first! From 1,720 feet at the vista point, look west and north toward to the Santa Rosa Plain and the surrounding beautiful green galloping hills. You can also see distant Sugarloaf Ridge State Park and Hood Mountain. Good as new!

BONUS: The next level after organic? Biodynamic! Check out one of wine country's pioneers down the road at Benziger Family Winery. Their biodynamic tram tour takes you around the property and teaches a bit about the process−tasting included!

North Sonoma Mountain Regional Park is southeast of Santa Rosa (map). Print out a park map to bring with you. There's a $7 parking fee. No dogs.

Trending Stories NorCal

View all Stories

  1. Can't Top This

    San Francisco’s Presidio was already a fantastic place to hang out for the afternoon, a beautiful site within the largest urban national park in the United States (the Golden Gate National Recreation Area). And Presidio Tunnel Tops is like a cherry on top. Make that two cherries on top, with the newly opened (July 2025) Outpost Meadow, a 1.5-acre green space located at Old Mason Street across from the Crissy Field Marsh in the Presidio.

    View

  2. This Is Paradise

    Granite mountain-scape, superb sunset views, crystal lakes, and shoreline campsites … the trip to Paradise Lake in Tahoe National Forest lives up to its idyllic name.

    View

  3. Aloha from California

    Say Aloha without leaving California with a 7-mile out-and-back hiking adventure to Lake Aloha in El Dorado National Forest. You can also camp here, a premier place for stargazing.

    View

  4. Sequoia Re-opens Crystal Cave

    Step inside Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park's hidden world by visiting the newly re-opened Crystal Cave—the only cave in the parks open to the public. Closed for four years, this rare marble karst cavern is welcoming visitors once again, but only through the summer season!

    View

Trending Stories SoCal

View all Stories

  1. Hot As (Bumpass) Hell

    So you like going to all the hot spots when you visit places? Well, in Lassen Volcanic National Park there’s a place so hot it gets downright steamy. Bumpass Hell is the largest hydrothermal area in the park, with sputtering mud pots, sulfur vents, and boiling pools. It’s California’s Yellowstone. But it only opens in summer through fall.

    View

  2. Underground Garden

    Looking to escape the summer heat? Head to Fresno and discover its cool secret: the Forestiere Underground Gardens–an enchanting garden and architecture oasis like no other.

    View

  3. Oh Ryan

    Sure, it’s those whimsical trees that give Joshua Tree National Park its marquee billing; but this beautiful landscape also has surrounding mountains and its night sky—one of the darkest in Southern California and designated an International Dark Sky Park. Joshua Tree has four allowable stargazing parking lots, and a newly opened haven for spending the night nearby...

    View

  4. Easiest Best Hike in the World

    Choose the easiest and most view-rewarding hike in Yosemite. Okay, we’ll go first: the combination of hiking to Sentinel Dome and Taft Point. Both of these lookouts are within a couple miles of each other on Glacier Point Road

    View