Sonoma County CA : Hood Mountain’s Los Alamos Road Entrance Reopens Jan. 20

Santa Rosa, - January 16, 2018- Sonoma County Regional Paris is reopening the Los Alamos Road entrance to Hood Mountain Regional Park & Preserve on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018.

The park has been closed since the October 2017 wildfires swept across the Mayacamas Mountains. Large sections of the park burned, though flames spared the northern portion of the park reached from Los Alamos Road.

The Los Alamos reopening restores access to destinations such as Wildcat, Santa Rosa and Azalea creeks, Homestead Meadow, Hood Mountain Trail, and the McCormick Addition of adjacent Sugarloaf Ridge State Park.

The southern half of the park, accessed via trail connections at Hood Mountain summit or from the park's Pythian Road entrance, is closed indefinitely due to fire impacts. The burned hillsides above Pythian Road pose a significant mudslide threat. Retaining walls, culverts and bridges need to be repaired and hazard trees further assessed before that portion of the park can reopen.

For visitors to the Los Alamos Road side of the park, the Hood Mountain Trail is open to the connection with Panorama Ranch Trail near the park summit. However, access to the summit and to Gunsight Rock is closed and only .2 miles of the Panorama Ranch Trail is open west of Hood Mountain Trail.

In this upper Hood Mountain Trail/Panorama Ranch Trail area, hikers will see some impacts of the fire, including firebreaks cut into the park's pygmy forest. Hikers should be aware the climb to this area from Los Alamos Road is about 3 miles one way and is strenuous.

Park map

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