Romp hand-in-hand on the beach. Stroll across grassy meadows. Savor a picnic in a mountaintop forest. Such fantasies can easily become reality in Sonoma County. An oasis stretching from the gorgeous Mayacamas mountain range to the Pacific Ocean, the region boasts so many parks, preserves, beaches, and vast open agricultural areas that you’re never more than a few minutes away from another outdoor adventure.
Salt Point State Park, for instance, located about 94 miles north of San Francisco, features a marine conservation area and 20 miles of hiking trails along the rugged coastline, making it a prime spot to watch gray and blue whales. Grab a perch at Ocean Overlook to see the gentle giants traveling south to Baja California in January, heading from the Chukchi Sea near Alaska—then watch them travel back north in April or May for the summer feeding season. Salt Point has two campsites, one atop coastal bluffs on the ocean side of Highway 1 and one on the eastern side of Highway 1.
Head inland about 60 miles to Glen Ellen’s Jack London State Historic Park, and you’ll see history, romance, and nature intermingle so harmoniously that it’s no surprise the famous author called the area his “Beauty Ranch.” Hikers and horseback riders share the 26 miles of trails to see a 2,000-year-old redwood tree and the centuries-old terraced gardens (the old-style version of sustainable farming). Don’t miss the ruins of the huge Wolf House that the London family had built, but which burned down before they could ever move in.
Less than five miles north of Glen Ellen, in Kenwood, you’ll find Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, home of the headwaters of Sonoma Creek. Climb the 2,729-foot summit of Bald Mountain, and on a clear day, you can see the Golden Gate Bridge. Sugarloaf also has Robert Ferguson Observatory, which provides year-round astronomy education with the help of some of the largest telescopes dedicated to public use, and a hidden 25-foot waterfall amidst its ferns and redwoods.
Even Sonoma County’s largest city, Santa Rosa (with fewer than 200,000 residents), is anchored by an enormous park. Trione-Annadel State Park spreads out over more than 5,500 acres of rolling hills, lakes, streams, meadows, and woodland. Hikers, equestrians, mountain bicyclists, and runners are all drawn here for more than 40 miles of trails. Keep your eyes peeled for a sight of the rare California red-legged frogs, popularized in Mark Twain’s short story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.” In Guerneville, you can hike the trails at Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve, home to a grove of majestic coast redwoods—including one tree that is taller than a football field is long. And in the city of Sonoma itself, Sonoma State Historic Park, which consists of six midtown locations each featuring a historic attraction, and Depot Park both offer facilities for outdoor fun and relaxation such as bocce ball courts, picnic tables, playgrounds, and bike paths.