Help us improve Doran Regional Park

We’ve embarked on an exciting collaboration with Sonoma County Regional Parks to raise funds for a slate of priority improvements at Doran Regional Park, one of the most beloved and heavily used parks in our system. In 1967, Doran was placed in the Sonoma County Regional Parks system.

​One of Doran’s most inviting features is its wide, 2-mile stretch of beach on Bodega Bay. This unique, crescent-shaped peninsula provides an ideal place for walking, picnicking, playing in the sand, flying kites, surfing, and bird-watching. It’s one of the few places along the Northern California coast with gentle waves for children and families.

In addition to its day-use activity, more than 120 tent and RV campsites are available year-round. The campgrounds are almost always fully booked, with many families returning year after year for their traditional gathering at the beach. A boat launch provides Bodega Harbor access for sport fishing, kayaking, stand-up paddling, and kite surfing, and a jetty at the harbor mouth is a popular spot for rock fishing and exploring sea life.

Regional Parks’ managers have identified a variety of opportunities for improvements at Doran, with priority projects listed below.

• A new trail to Lucas Wharf that will enable pedestrians and cyclists to avoid Highway 1, offering transportation alternatives that increase safety and reduce traffic congestion. Presently, campers and day use visitors have no choice but to get back onto the busy highway in order to venture just a short distance to town. This planned 3-mile long off-road trail will fix that. Read the details here.​
  
• Bodega Bay Trail - Doran to Smith Brothers Road/Lucas Wharf (update)  Regional Parks now has adequate funds in hand to carry out Engineering, Design, Permitting and Community Engagement work for this trail. Regional Parks' planners expect to begin the project in January 2019 and complete the Engineering and Design work in FY 2019-2020. At that time, we will have comprehensive information about construction costs for this project.Additional funding came from park mitigation fees, cell tower fees, and $50,000 from Measure M transportation funds. The Smith Brothers Trail offers an exceptional opportunity not only for a safe bicycle and pedestrian alternative to Highway 1, but also for a world-class interpretive trail. The trail provides exceptional views of Bodega Bay, one of the most remarkable birding locations in the world.
• North Harbor Section of the Bodega Bay Trail This one-third mile section of the Bodega Bay Trail starts at the Bodega Bay Community Center (also the trailhead for the Coastal Prairie Trail), continues through Sonoma Coast State Park and its Bodega Dunes Campground, and ends at Eastshore Road, near the Porto Bodega Marina and RV Park. Regional Parks is completing environmental permits this fall and will receive the final cost estimate upon completion of the permitting process. Regional Parks is seeking $25,000 to complete design, engineering and permits for this phase of the trail.

Do you have a unique passion for the iconic park at Doran Beach or the Bodega Bay Trail? If you are moved to support these improvements in a significant way, please contact Executive Director Melissa Kelley for sponsorship and naming opportunities, including interpretive signage, trail sections and more.

Completed Projects at Doran:
Parks Foundation helps create Doran Visitor Center

In response to demonstrated interest from the public, Regional Parks opened the Doran Visitor Center in August 2017. The visitor center is located in a trailered cabin parked near the boardwalk.

Doran Park rangers and staff developed a variety of interactive displays that interpret the diverse habitats found at Doran: the sand dunes, ocean, wetlands and intertidal zone. The exhibits include the preserved skeleton of a sea lion, a children’s discovery activities and touch table, and large interpretive panels created by local artist Molly Eckler illustrating the habitats of Doran Regional Park and the Sonoma Coast.

The long-awaited Doran Visitor Center provides an enhanced experience for park goers to learn about the local flora and fauna of the area, purchase park memorabilia, and ask questions of Regional Parks’ trained volunteers at the center.

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Generous donor funds new restrooms and trail work at Doran Beach

In 2016 and 2017, the Parks Foundation received generous grants totaling $170,000 from the Peter E. Haas, Jr. Family Fund to construct a much needed restroom to serve the Gull and Shell Campgrounds at Doran Beach. The Haas family's generous gift enabled Regional Parks to construct a new, more attractive facility featuring flush toilets. The pre-fabricated building, shown on its way the the park, is in full compliance with current accessibility standards.

In addition to making construction of the new restroom possible, the Peter E. Haas Jr. Family Fund granted the Parks Foundation $25,000 towards construction of a new trail connecting the Doran Beach campgrounds to Smith Brothers Road.

The planned trail from the Doran Beach campgrounds to Smith Brothers Road will provide Doran visitors with a much safer alternative than walking or biking along Highway 1.