Favorite Hikes

This page contains links to our favorite hikes. Other favorite event info exists for:

Hiking, Horse Back Riding, Skydiving, River Rafting

This document is a work in progress. It's taking a lot of effort to collect and write. For now, the following documents have the most information:

These documents still need a lot of work and should be skipped for now:

Here are some additional suggestions based on other criteria:

Area: Pacific Coast, Close to Santa Rosa, East, West, North, South, Marin
Season: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
Feature: Redwoods, Waterfalls, Dogs Allowed
Weather Conditions: Fog
Wildlife: Pigs, Turkeys, Salamanders
Carpool Sites: Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park
Other Links

Please note that this information is maintained on a best effort basis. Things change over time, and we make mistakes. Please let us know of any changes. Thanks!

Hikes by Area

Coastal Areas
- Salt Point trails (north of jenner)
- Fort Ross trails (north of jenner)
- Sonoma Coast Kortum Trail (south of jenner)
- Pomo Canyon (6 miles, 700 feet, near jenner)
- Bodega Bay coastal trails
Close to Santa Rosa
- Sugarloaf
- Hood Mountain Regional Park
- Annadel State Park
- Spring Lake
- Trail from SR to Sebastopol by HWY 12
Eastern Areas (East of Santa Rosa)
- Hike to top of Mt. Saint Helena (10 miles, 1700 feet, east of calistoga)
- Palisades hike (2-5 miles, 500 feet, east of calistoga)
- Jack London State Park (Glen Ellen)
- Sonoma Creek Trail Loop (Sonoma)
Western Areas (West of Santa Rosa, not on coastline)
- Armstrong Redwoods and Austin Creek (guerneville)
- Ragle Ranch (sebastopol)
Northern Areas (North of Santa Rosa, not on coastline)
- Lake Sonoma
- Shiloh regional park (south of windsor)
- Windsor XXXX regional park
Southern Areas (between Santa Rosa and Marin)
- Helen Putnam Regional Park (SW Petaluma)
- Novato Area is home to Olompali, Mount Burdell, and several marsh hikes.
- Deer Island (Novato Marshlands)
Marin County
- Lots of places on Mount Tam!
- Muir Woods
- Samuel P Taylor
- Corte Madera Creek Path (Ross to San Quentin)
- Angel Island
Point Reyes
- Lots of places!

Hikes by Season

Winter
- Places exposed to the sky will dry out faster:
  - Austin Creek near Guerneville
  - Bald Hill in Sugarloaf
  - Gunsight Rock
  - Mount Burdell near Novato is exposed (avoid the Olompali side as it is shady)
- Places with waterfalls are wet & pretty:
  - Pomo Canyon (6 miles, 700 feet, near jenner)
  - Cataract Trail, Marin County
Spring
- Places with lots of wild flowers
  - Sonoma Coast
Summer
- Places with lots of shade
  - The southern trails in Annadel State Park are heavily wooded.
  - Armstrong Redwoods has a lot of shade, but gets hot if you climb the ridge, and Austin creek should be avoided
  - Olompali near Novato offers a hike to the top of Mt. Burdell that is mostly in the shade.
- Coastal Trails (ocean is always cold and moderates the temperature)
  - Sonoma Coast
Autumn
- Places with colorful trees

Hikes by Weather Condition

Fog
- Calistoga area - higher elevations and more inland is often above the fog.

Hikes by Feature

Redwood Trees
- Pomo Canyon (6 miles, 700 feet, near jenner)
- Armstrong Redwoods
- Fox Mountain trail in Austin Creek
Waterfalls
- Sugarloaf has a small waterfall near the road.
- Alamere Falls in Point Reyes has a very pretty waterfall year-round.
- Cataract Trail, Marin County
- Pomo Canyon has a waterfall that only appears after a strong rain (6 miles, 700 feet, near jenner)
Pygmy Forest:
- Hood Mountain
Good for Dogs
- Paul and Cheryl have a dog & have explored many areas, here are their thoughts:
- Unfortunately all the State Parks and National Parks do not allow dogs on the trails, with a few rare exceptions like the Kehoe Beach Trail at Point Reyes National Seashore.
- Most of the regional parks allow dogs on the trails (exception: Shiloh Ranch Park), here is a page with maps
- Foothill and Riverfront parks near Windsor both allow dogs on the trails and have ponds for dogs to swim in. (They don't allow people to swim though.)
- Helen Putnam Park near Petaluma also has a pond
- Pinnacle Gulch near Bodega Bay has trails and the coast/beach.
- Lake Sonoma allows dogs on the trails, and has the lake for swimming
- Marin allows dogs on most Open Space and Water District trails, even off leash on fire roads. (site1, site2)

Hikes by Wildlife

We've noted places and times we've seen various animals. They're not always there, your mileage may vary.