Hit The Trails in Sonoma County! Challenge Begins Saturday

News from Sonoma County Regional Parks:

Sonoma County Regional Parks kicks off its second-annual Trails Challenge this Saturday, June 6, in celebration of National Trails Day.

The Trails Challenge invites residents and visitors to discover the beauty of Sonoma County and the healthy fun of outdoor recreation by hiking five or more parks featured in the Trails Challenge’s free, downloadable guidebook. Updated for 2015 with new hikes at North Sonoma Mountain, Sonoma Valley, Taylor Mountain, and Stillwater Cove regional parks, the Trails Challenge can be completed any time Junethrough November.

Finishers who turn in an online trails log will get a free water bottle or other trails-related gift. If they alsopost a photo of themselves taking the Trails Challenge on Regional Parks’ Facebook page, they will be eligible for monthly park membership giveaways. Children who take the Trails Challenge will get a youth-size water bottle and an official “Trails Challenge Explorer” certificate.

Co-sponsored by Sonoma County Department of Health Services, the Trails Challenge promotes the health benefits of time spent in nature and is designed for all fitness levels. Hikes range from 2 to 9 miles round-trip and are rated in the Trails Challenge guidebook as easy, moderate or strenuous. The guidebook alsoprovides key facts about parks, turn-by-turn trail notes, trail maps and driving directions to parks.

National Trails Day is celebrated across the country on the first Saturday of June with special events promoting America’s trail networks. The Regional Parks include more than 150 miles of trails countywide, including trails in the Sonoma Valley, along the Russian River and on the Sonoma Coast. TheTrails Challenge showcases the diversity of these landscapes and invites hikers to explore on their own, with family and friends, or on upcoming guided hikes:

• June 6 - Sonoma Valley Regional Park - Historical ecology hike
• June 7 - Sonoma Valley Regional Park - Nature walk
• June 13 - Ragle Ranch Regional Park - Nature walk
• June 14 - Taylor Mountain Regional Park - New 1.2-mile Redtail Trail along Petaluma Hill Road
• June 14 - Hood Mountain Regional Park - Gunsight Rock hike
• June 20 - Sonoma Valley Regional Park - Wildlife Corridor walk

To get started, visit the Trails Challenge webpage at sonomacountyparks.org and download the free Trails Challenge guidebook. A limited number of print copies will be available starting June 5 at the staffed entries to Spring Lake and Ragle Ranch parks and at Regional Parks’ office, 2300 County Center Drive, Suite 120A, in Santa Rosa.

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