Bald Mountain Hike : Photo Albums : SummitPost

Gate Closed, Change of Plans

It's a perfect day, clear and crisp. I get to Jack London State Park to hike Sonoma Mountain and WHAT??. Park's shut down, budget cuts hit home.
So I head north a few miles to Sugarloaf State Park to hike Bald Mountain (2,729') and .... gates up, "turn around" park closed. Even the roadside parking outside the gates have no parking plastered all over, tow away warnings and a minimum 50$ fine! Then I find out from a couple guys you can still go in on foot or bike.
So it's down the road a few miles to park and add 5 miles and 1,000 gain to the hike. Well whatever. After some grumbling and cursing to myself it was such a clear day I wasn't gonna let bureaucratic bullshit from Sacramento slow me down.

It was a fine day with a cold windy summit yielding 160 mile views from the Santa Cruz Mountains to the south to Snow Mountain to the north, the ocean to the west, Blue Ridge to Mount Vaca to the east.

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Marmaduke

Other trails

Hasn't voted

Windsor, not that Sonoma Mountain is a real destination peak but there are a few other routes you can take to Sonoma Mt. When on Arnold Dr going towards Glen Ellen take a left on Wilson Ave as you enter Eldridge. Follow up and to the left until you come to the gate. There are signs everywhere saying private, etc but the State Hostpital does not enforce that any longer. Follow the paved road up to the lake. From here you have multiple options. Just prior to the lake there is a service road that winds around the lake and you'll see "State Park" signs, these trails all go into Jack London. If you continue past the lake you'll come to another service road and same story, to the right and you'll hit more trails to Jack London. Where the road ends and does a loop you'll be at Camp Vera. As you go slightly down hill and to the left there is another service road off to the right. From there go right and then stay to the right and once again you'll hit trail signs leading to Jack London. Or loop to the left, cross the creek and stay on that over-grown service road. You'll start a pretty steep incline for about a mile or more that tops out on a ridge that is part of Jack London. From there follow the trails to the right. You'll come to the "Jack London State Park Summit" and then continue and you''ll meet up with the trail on the left leading to Sonoma Mountain.

Posted Dec 24, 2011 2:26 am

Noondueler

Re: Other trails

Hasn't voted

Thanks Marm for the detailed route description. I did Sonoma Mtn. years ago and want to do it again soon. Happy Holidays to you and the family too!

Posted Dec 24, 2011 12:17 pm

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