Publicly Owned and Protected Lands on Sonoma Mountain

by John Barinaga

Sonoma Mountain is defined here as an area of special interest to the Sonoma Mountain Preservation Group bounded by Route 116, Adobe Road, Petaluma Hill Road, Roberts Road, Pressley Road, Sonoma Mountain Road, Warm Springs Road, and Arnold Drive.

State Lands

Fairfield Osborne Preserve
Acres: 410

Named in honor of a pioneer ecologist, Fairfield Osborn Preserve was established by the Roth Family in 1972. Originally a project of The Nature Conservancy, and now owned and managed by Sonoma State University, the Preserve is a nonprofit organization, run primarily by volunteers, and dedicated to protecting and restoring the natural communities on the Preserve as well as fostering ecological understanding through education. SSU owns 221 acres (over which The Nature Conservancy holds a conservation easement). Wilroth (a Roth family corporation) owns an adjacent 189 acres. SSU manages the entire parcel of 410 acres as the Fairfield Osborn Preserve.

Public access is via Lichau Road (off Roberts Road, which is off Petaluma Hill Road). The preserve is open for naturalist-led hikes. For information, call (707) 795-5069.

Jack London State Historical Park
Acres: 800+

Jack London State Historic Park was created in 1959, when a small portion\emdash about 40 acres\emdash of Jack London's 1,400 acre Beauty Ranch was acquired by the state, partly through a gift from Irving Shepard, London's nephew and an heir to the London estate. The original park included London's grave, the ruins of Wolf House, and Charmain London's House of Happy Walls. Additional acreage has been added over the years, so that today the park contains more than 800 acres, including many of the ranch buildings and the cottage where London wrote much of his later work.

Public access is via London Ranch Road off Arnold Drive.

Sonoma Developmental Center Parcel 2
Acres: 284

This parcel contains the area known as the Old Orchards. Work has been underway to transfer the "surplus" Parcel 2 from SDC to Jack London State Historical Park.

No public access.

Petaluma Adobe State Historical Park
Acres: 40

In 1910, the old adobe was purchased by the Petaluma Chapter of the Native Sons of the Golden West, which managed to preserve the remaining half of the building until 1951. In that year, the people of California took title to the building. Today, the building is a registered national historic landmark, and the park is part of the state park system.

Public access is via Adobe Road.

County Lands

Crane Creek Regional Park
Acres: 128

This park features rolling grassland meadows and a seasonal creek in the foothills east of Sonoma State University. The park's open space is bordered by stands of California buckeye, white alder, black oak and maple. The park offers outstanding vistas of Rohnert Park and Santa Rosa. Trails are available for hiking, bicycle riding, and horseback riding.

Public access is via Pressley Road.

Sonoma Mountain Woodlands
Acres: 85

This parcel was acquired by the county as a condition of a subdivision and assigned to the county's regional parks department. There is no current public access but the county is working on ways to provide access.

Other Protected Lands

George Ranch (Open space easement held by Sonoma County)
Acres: 540

When the George Ranch residential subdivision was approved, the agreement included two agricultural parcels to buffer the residential development from neighboring agricultural land. The two parcels are the Sawi holding (formerly Edelstein, formerly Howell), at 235 acres, and the Thornton parcel, at 305 acres.

No public access.

Acquisitions by the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District (SCAPOSD, Conservation easements)

Moon Ranch
Acres: 381
Development rights acquired 1995. No public access.

Barton Ranch
Acres: 440
Open space easement conveyed to SCAPOSD.
No public access.

Arbit Ranch
Acres: 203
Development rights acquired 1995. Irrevocable trail easement offer to county.
No current public access.

Maria Hansen Trust Ranch
Acres: 282
Development rights acquired 1997. A trail connecting this property to Jack London State Park has been built, but a dispute with the landowner has prevented its opening.
No current public access.

Sonoma Developmental Center Area One
Acres: 290
Development rights acquired 1998. A trail connecting this property to Jack London State Park has been built and is scheduled to open later in 2002.
Access through Jack London State Park.

Skiles Ranch
Acres: 171
Development rights acquired 1999.
No public access.

Cook Ranch
Acres: 519
Development rights acquired 2000.
No public access

Morelli Ranch
Acres: 454.
The Open Space District negotiated permanent protection through a conservation easement for this parcel, which was approved by the county board of supervisors in Jan. 2002.
No public access.

City Lands

Lafferty Ranch
Acres: 270
In 1995, the City of Petaluma purchased the Lafferty Ranch, which includes land around the headwaters of Adobe Creek. Since 1996, Petaluma has been taking steps to open the Lafferty Ranch as an open space park.
No current public access.

Private Lands

Galvin Ranch
Acres: 1746
This privately owned ranch has been included in this listing because of its importance to the preservation of the ridge line of Sonoma Mountain and because of Coastal Conservancy and Open Space District efforts to purchase the property for preservation.
No public access.