Bald Mountain Trail

Getting There

The trailhead for Bald Mountain is located in Sugarloaf Ridge State Park . California Highway 12 connects Sonoma and Santa Rosa. Take Hwy 12 east from Santa Rosa or west from Sonoma. About 10 miles from either city, signed Adobe Canyon Road heads north from Hwy 12. This intersection is less than a mile from the little town of Kenwood. This intersection is signed for the Sugarloaf Ridge State Park also.

This little road gets crooked within a mile of the highway, so slow down and watch for bicyclists on the roadway. At 2.2 miles from Hwy 12 pass a trailhead for Hood Mountain and at 3.3 miles enter the Sugarloaf Ridge State Park. Pay the $6 for day use and procede into the park about 100yds to a large parking lot on the left. The trailhead leaves this parking lot and the elevation here is about 1,205 ft.

Route Description

The Bald Mountain Summit Trail leaves the parking lot on the northeast corner of the lot and it is marked. The trail is easy to follow, but the lower portion could be muddy on rainy days. There is a sign with a map at the start of the trail and shows the entire trail to the summit. If you try this on a nice day on the weekend, you will be joined by lots of other hikers who will be enjoying the hike with you. The lower portion of the trail meanders among trees and then open grassy areas as it climbs for about a mile up to a roadway.

This roadway is paved and is used to service a communications facility on Red Mountain. Follow the paved roadway and ignore all side trails. This paved roadway continues all the way to the saddle between Red Mountain and Bald Mountain. At the saddle turn north or right towards Bald Mountain and follow the unpaved road up to the summit. Just before the summit, follow one of the little climber’s trails a couple hundred feet up to the actual summit. There are a couple of signs up there that help to identify all the surrounding peaks. There is also a bench to rest on and on sunny days this is a beautiful place for a picnic and to socialize. Total hike is just under 6.0 miles with about 1,500ft of elevation gain. It took me about 2.25 hours, but I didn’t have lunch and wanted to get in another hike the same day.

Mountain Bikers often use the road for access to the summit of Bald Mountain.

Essential Gear

When hiking, the ten essentials are always required. No technical gear is required. Be sure to bring water. Take your camera and enjoy the views. Take raingear if it is cloudy at all.

Images

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