Eight More Miles of Trails at Taylor Mountain!
Taylor Mountain Regional Park and Open Space Preserve is home to a mosaic of grassland, wetland, riparian, scrub and oak woodland plant communities. The park supports an abundance of wildlife species, and it links the stream corridors, parks and backyards of Santa Rosa to the Sonoma Mountains. It is also a hub for outdoor recreation in Sonoma County.
Providing a picturesque backdrop to Santa Rosa, Taylor Mountain offers ample public recreation on the urban edge. Over half the county's population lives within just 20 minutes of the park. Park visitors take in a sweeping view of the Santa Rosa Plain, while disc golf enthusiasts enjoy the 18-hole course. The park offers a vital reprieve from the urban landscape for families who live on nearby Santa Rosa Avenue.
Until 2024, the park offered only 5 miles of trails, mostly old ranch roads that deliver access to this outstanding playground for hikers, mountain bikers, and horseback riders alike. Sonoma County’s largest trail construction project in over a decade took place at Taylor Mountain Park & Preserve in 2023-24. The new trails will give hikers, cyclists and equestrians access to an additional 450 acres and eight miles of new multi-use trails, doubling the park’s existing trail network.
Much of the new trail system is now complete but needs additional touch-up work to ensure ideal trail performance. Finishing work will include improving drainage and adding gravel to mitigate clay sections of the trail, removing downed trees, and trimming back vegetation. Following this winter’s rains, Regional Parks will assess the performance of the new trails, and the Parks Foundation will fund additional trail refinements in the future.
This project includes trails on the north and eastern sides of Taylor Mountain, several bridges across seasonal wetlands, and three new walk-in/bike-in entrances for neighborhood use. New trails will cover a variety of topography, from steeper grades leading to the top of 1,120-foot Cogan Peak, to more gradual traverses, including an ADA-accessible trail through Colgan Peak Canyon.
The Parks Foundation has invested heavily in Taylor Mountain Park & Preserve since the park's inception. Ten years ago, California State Parks awarded a grant of $1.8 million from its Recreational Trails Program to build new trails at Taylor Mountain Regional Park and Open Space Preserve. This grant requires a 12% match from Sonoma County Regional Parks, and the Parks Foundation has committed to raised over $80,000 towards that match.
We welcome your support as we continue to enhance this popular park!
For more information, please contact Parks Foundation Executive Director Melissa Kelley.
Providing a picturesque backdrop to Santa Rosa, Taylor Mountain offers ample public recreation on the urban edge. Over half the county's population lives within just 20 minutes of the park. Park visitors take in a sweeping view of the Santa Rosa Plain, while disc golf enthusiasts enjoy the 18-hole course. The park offers a vital reprieve from the urban landscape for families who live on nearby Santa Rosa Avenue.
Until 2024, the park offered only 5 miles of trails, mostly old ranch roads that deliver access to this outstanding playground for hikers, mountain bikers, and horseback riders alike. Sonoma County’s largest trail construction project in over a decade took place at Taylor Mountain Park & Preserve in 2023-24. The new trails will give hikers, cyclists and equestrians access to an additional 450 acres and eight miles of new multi-use trails, doubling the park’s existing trail network.
Much of the new trail system is now complete but needs additional touch-up work to ensure ideal trail performance. Finishing work will include improving drainage and adding gravel to mitigate clay sections of the trail, removing downed trees, and trimming back vegetation. Following this winter’s rains, Regional Parks will assess the performance of the new trails, and the Parks Foundation will fund additional trail refinements in the future.
This project includes trails on the north and eastern sides of Taylor Mountain, several bridges across seasonal wetlands, and three new walk-in/bike-in entrances for neighborhood use. New trails will cover a variety of topography, from steeper grades leading to the top of 1,120-foot Cogan Peak, to more gradual traverses, including an ADA-accessible trail through Colgan Peak Canyon.
The Parks Foundation has invested heavily in Taylor Mountain Park & Preserve since the park's inception. Ten years ago, California State Parks awarded a grant of $1.8 million from its Recreational Trails Program to build new trails at Taylor Mountain Regional Park and Open Space Preserve. This grant requires a 12% match from Sonoma County Regional Parks, and the Parks Foundation has committed to raised over $80,000 towards that match.
We welcome your support as we continue to enhance this popular park!
For more information, please contact Parks Foundation Executive Director Melissa Kelley.
A Natural Play Area for the children of Sonoma County
In December 2020, Regional Parks dedicated the first phase of the Red Tail Play Area, an exciting new environmentally friendly and educational project at Taylor Mountain Regional Park and Open Space. Taylor Mountain already benefits the community with five miles of multi-use trails and a disc golf course. Sonoma County Regional Parks' unique Natural Play Area features natural and environmentally friendly materials, landforms and vegetation to create a fun and educational play space for children of all ages.
The Red Tail Play Area provides a captivating play space that will draw children to Taylor Mountain Regional Park and Open Space Preserve, inducing them to play and improve their fitness while fostering a connection to the natural world. Studies have shown that interaction with the natural landscape is critical to the mental and physical health of children. Constructed of natural components such as plants, logs, water, sand, mud, boulders, hills and trees, Natural Play Areas are outdoor spaces designed to entice youth to experience nature.