Petaluma Trails

California

2 Reviews

The Petaluma Trails consist of 5 trails, each one through a unique and scenic part of historic Petaluma. There is a two-mile circular loop through Shollenberger Park and a one-mile trail that links the park to Petaluma Marina. A nice paved path runs alongside Lynch Creek, which has nice trees along its banks and a good view of Sonoma Mountain.

A scenic trail runs around the perimeter of a residential section of the town before running though the campus of Santa Rosa Junior College and ending at Prince Park.

Helen Putnam Regional Park is a 216-acre park offering panoramic views of southern Sonoma County and northern Marin County. The park has trails for hiking, bicycling and horseback riding. A gazebo, picnic area, and children's playground are located at the trailhead. There is a large pond for fishing (bluegill mostly).

Parking and Trail Access

Numerous segments of the trail run through parks, where parking is available: Helen Putnam Regional Park (411 Chileno Valley Road; note that there is a parking fee), Shollenberger Park (1400 Cader Lane), Prince Park (2301 E. Washington Street) and Leghorns Park (690 Sonoma Mountain Parkway).

Local Park bikers view

February 2016 ecmp_00

This is a nice hiking park, the biking view is some paved roads and lots of gravel paths. There is a rolling hills aspect of this park so its not level terrain.

Helen Putnam Regional Park

May 2014 rsgillmd

I was looking for a way to stay active and explore California while visiting a friend. She had suggested I check out Petaluma. I found the park by searching through other websites. After arrival at the park there is a $7 parking fee (assuming you are not a yearly member). You can pick up a map of the trails next to the pay station. If I knew how, I would upload the GPX file of the path I took, doing essentially all of the trails. The total distance with this method came out to 4.83 miles. The trails are multiple short segments so you never really get too far without being able to turn back if you needed to. If you start off going left from the bathrooms, leading to the Panorama trail, that is probably the steepest up hill in the whole park. I came down the Arroyo trail, back to the parking lot. That can be steep if going up it. Otherwise very gentle elevation changes with great views. Definitely worth checking out.