Bald Mountain (Sugarloaf Ridge)
Sugarloaf Ridge State Park (Sonoma) · near Kenwood / Santa Rosa · SF Bay Area
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- moderate
- Route type
- loop
- Distance
- 7 miles
- Elevation gain
- 1,500 ft
- Time needed
- day
- Best season
- October–May (green hills; hot in summer)
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- No permit; state park parking fee. A wine-country summit with views from the Sierra to the sea on clear days, plus a dark-sky observatory.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 1 of 5
What is here
- Features
- Sierra-to-sea summit views · Wine-country ridgelines · Robert Ferguson Observatory · Spring wildflowers & creek
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- No
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- Go on a clear day after a winter storm for the legendary Sierra-to-sea view from the summit. The hills are green and wildflower-strewn October through May and baking hot in summer — this is a cool-season hike. Check the Robert Ferguson Observatory's public-viewing schedule to combine your hike with stargazing.
The guide
Sugarloaf Ridge State Park sits in the Mayacamas Mountains above Sonoma's wine country, and the loop to its high point, 2,729-f…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Bald Mountain (Sugarloaf Ridge) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 38.439, -122.515