Circling Montini

A new portion of trail on the Montini Preserve is now open, creating a complete loop through the hilly 98-year property that backdrops downtown Sonoma. The new connector creates a complete loop for the Valley of the Moon trail and allows hikers to enter through the network that starts at either one of Montini’s entrances: one at 4th Street West and Haraszthy Drive, and one at Field of Dreams on First  Street West.

The project, with trail designer John Aranson at the helm, is a partnership of the Sonoma Ecology Center, which stewards the preserve, and the city of Sonoma. Seven American Conservation Experience volunteers did much of the work. “One big takeaway I had from this experience was how meticulous trail building is,” volunteer Emma Smith told the SEC. “Every rock, stairway, and bend in the trail has a purpose”

Read more from the Sonoma Ecology Center.

Photos by Andrew Birks.