Visit & Photos of Sonoma Valley Regional Park & Lake Suttonfield

I took an unexpected hike at Sonoma Valley Regional Park when I discovered Jack London’s help was late opening the gates.  Even though I was closer to the entrance on the Arnold Drive side of the park, I didn’t like the parking so I drove around to the highway 12 side that had ample parking.  I have an annual pass for Sonoma County Regional Parks so I didn’t have to pay the $7.00 parking fee. I was not familiar with the park and I wanted to see the lake and took the West Sutton lake trail which led me to a gate opening that had a sign Park Boundary Restricted Area Beyond this point, so I went back and took the Corridor Ridge Trail assuming I would be able to spot the lake from the top of the mountains - it was hilly terrain which led me to the Arnold side of the park and I never saw the lake.  That side opens up into Lake Suttonfield which is not part of the Sonoma Valley Park but a reservoir.  I could not find very much information on this lake online.  After hiking around the lake I started back to my car from the other side of lake on well-cut trails but found myself walking in what could have been private property – it was very confusing where the park started and stopped and what trails were private or not. I found myself having to use my GPS to figure out where I was most of the time. My fitbit hit 10,000 steps by the time I got back to my car so expect this was about 4 miles. The hike starts with some pretty impressive vistas of the Sonoma Valley and Glen Ellen area.  The wildlife I saw was limited to birds. I saw acorn woodpeckers, turkey vultures, western jays, and a lot of tweets.  At the lake I saw Mallards, Cormorants, Herons, Coots and a solo Bufflehead that looks lost and out of place.  The park was not much to see the lake was pretty cool.  Anchored with a dog park this place is good for dog walkers and noticed some jogging and signs of equestrian activity.  I guess there is a fair amount of birding here too as a birding site has information on this park as well. Living in Petaluma, I don’t think I would make a special trip to visit here. It is a nice spot for the locals. Click here for more photos of this park.

Deer Island Open Space Preserve in Novato California

I recently visited Deer Island Open Space Preserve which is very close to where I work.  It is not really an island as the name may suggest.  It’s 154 acres that was an extension to the Petaluma River Delta. This was the first time visiting this open space.  While I was there I saw a male northern harrier, red tailed hawks, acorn woodpeckers, great white herons, mallard and coot ducks, as well as many other species of birds.  What was amazing was the deer super highways cutting their ways across the landscape.  I had never seen anything like it.  Amazing enough I didn’t see a deer while there but it was mid-afternoon.  It seems like the loops main traffic is runners and people out for walks with their dogs.  I will probably do an early morning walk here in the future before work to see what I can see – I am sure the wildlife is thriving here more when it’s early.    Click here for photos of this park.