Hiking and Adventure Guide to the Sonoma Coast and Russian River
The only complete guide to the six state parks and 15 coastal and riverside regional parks in one of the most rugged and beautiful
regions of northern California: the magnificent Sonoma Coast and Russian River. The full range of outdoor adventures are described here, including
hiking, camping, diving, whale/seal watching, and more. At Sonoma Coast State Park, explore miles of sandy beaches, isolated coves, and
wildflower-covered trails. Watch for whales at Bodega Head. Visit Fort Ross State Historic Park, a Russian colonial outpost dating back to 1812.
Free-dive for abalone at Salt Point State Park, site of strange sandstone sculptures and a rare pygmy forest. See the rhododendrons that bloom
each spring at nearby Kruse Rhododendron Reserve, then turn inland to Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve, home to the last major stand of old-growth
redwoods in Sonoma County. Detailed trail descriptions and trail maps along with a table of GPS waypoints for trail junctions and point of
interest.
Rating: 
(out of 1 reviews)
List Price: $ 16.95
Price: $ 10.02
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Review by Fritz R. Ward for Hiking and Adventure Guide to the Sonoma Coast and Russian River
Rating:
I don’t usually think of Sonoma when I plan my hiking trips. It is somewhere north of the Bay Area, which has a lot of hiking, but south of the North Coast Redwoods. It doesn’t have a lot in the way of spectacular mountain scenery and generally it is an area I tend to pass through on my way to other locales. Even the rather definitive California Hiking lumps Sonoma in with Napa Valley and the result is one of the shortest chapters in the book. Nonetheless, driving through Sonoma and stopping for short walks, you cannot help but suspect there is more and so I pre-ordered this book hoping to find out what is available. The result is at once more and less than what I expected.
Fully 190 of the 207 pages of text deal with six state parks in Sonoma County. Most of this text discusses local history and park regulations on everything from Abolone diving to Mushroom collecting. Almost every pocket beach along the coast merits some note but when all is said and done, the author only comes up with 25 hikes. This leads me to suspect my other books were correct; for better or for worse, there really is not that much in the way of hiking opportunities in Sonoma.
I enjoyed reading the history of the region (Fort Ross does not have the title “State Historical Park” for nothing) but it seemed to me the author was stretching a bit on his hike descriptions. Hinch is a noted GPS expert and every trail he describes includes multiple GPS points to help guide one along. There are, for example, 11 such points on a six mile hike out of Armstrong Redwoods to Austin Creek park that I somehow managed to navigate 4 years ago with just a 2 paragraph route description. On the other hand, the book includes nice photos and maps.
None of the 25 identified hikes in this book are all that long. Dedicated hikers could do several in one day. A week would allow one to polish off all the selections in the book. In this respect, I was a little disappointed in my purchase. As an introduction to the local history of some fine state parks, this book merits 5 stars. But as a hiking guide, despite the quality of the trails and scenery, it simply was not enough for me to change my itinerary. I will continue to pass through Sonoma on my way to other destinations.