Sugarloaf is located on the east side of Sonoma County's Valley of the Moon. While just 20 minutes or so east of Santa Rosa, a day up on these trails can really make you feel like you've gotten away from it all. The state park and connected Sonoma County regional park have trails up to two of the highest peaks in Sonoma County: Mt. Hood (in Hood Mountain Regional Park) is 2,730 feet and Bald Mountain (in Sugarloaf Ridge State Park) is only a foot shorter at 2,729 ft. Bald Mountain offers sweeping views and on a clear day at the summit one can see the Sierra-Nevada to the east, the Bay Area and even the Golden Gate Bridge to the south, and the Pacific to the west. Camping is very popular at Sugarloaf, as well as horseback riding, and visiting the Robert Ferguson Observatory for solar viewing and stargazing on summer weekends. If remote areas are what you seek, the trails in the McCormick Addition to Sugarloaf are perfect. You can find your own peace as you follow a trail to the Grandmother Oak or just take a lunch and picnic by the headwaters of Santa Rosa creek. The two parks have over 36 miles of trails, most of which are open to horses as well as hikers and many of the more remote ones are open to bikers. The elevation varies from 640 feet at the Goodspeed Trailhead to 2,730 feet at Mt. Hood.
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