Photo by Ryan Lely
The public won’t be allowed onto the 98-acre Montini Ranch before the spring of 2008.
But when the gates do swing open, hikers are likely to appreciate the high degree of drama that trail-planners were able to squeeze out of the hillside pastureland that serves as Sonoma’s backdrop.
Starting from the Field of Dreams baseball field, hikers will be able to climb a couple of hundred feet and watch the city of Sonoma spread out beneath them.
Most of them will soon be admiring Sonoma Mountain to the west and San Pablo Bay to the south. Further on, hikers will find themselves inside a bowl-shaped old quarry that was carved out of basalt rock.
The 1.5-mile trail system winds through a wide-open savannah-like mix of oaks and grassland and cool forests of fragrant bay trees.
The Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District purchased the 98-acre Montini Ranch in late 2005; the city of Sonoma pitched in $1 million towards the purchase price.
Open space planner Leslie Lew recently led The Sun on a hike through the Montini Ranch along trail alignments that are marked with pink flagging.
The open space district held a meeting about its plans for the property on the evening of June 27 in Burlingame Hall at the First Congregational Church that attracted about 40 people.
The audience’s reception to the notion of a parking lot for hikers on Fifth Street West was lukewarm.
“No one has said, ‘Yes! A parking lot! That’s great,’” Lew said.
So the open space district may scrap the parking lot and let people park on the street.
But Lew would like to have part of the trail system connect with First Street West, partly because it will be the only wheelchair-accessible part of the trail system.
Also, the segment of trail would allow people to hike from Fifth Street West all the way to Mountain Cemetery or downtown via the Montini Ranch, she said.
The open space district is the property’s third owner; the Montini family bought the land in 1934 from descendants of its original owner, Gen. Mariano Vallejo, Sonoma’s founding father.
“Some of the deeds are written in that old-fashioned script. Pretty neat,” Lew said.
Lew expects to firm up plans for the Montini Ranch trails in the next few months. To comment or for more information, contact Leslie Lew at 707.565.7360.
