Sugarloaf Ridge State Park — Attraction in St. Helena

I went there for an eight-mile hike on a Sunday in January with a friend of mine, who lives in San Francisco and lately has been experimenting with living part-time in Sonoma.

The trail starts near an observatory and joins the Ridge Trail that goes around the entire Bay Area.

At the top, hikers can enjoy a panoramic view of the surrounding areas. On a clear day, one can make out the highrises of San Francisco's Financial District. Looking down, one can see cities of Sonoma, Napa, St. Helena and the hamlets in between them. A pictorial map of the surrounding peaks helps hikers to spot Mt. Tam, Mt. Diablo, and many others.

It was cold and windy at the top, though it was an unseasonally warm and sunny day in Sonoma.

The main trail loops around and is approximately 5 miles long, rather steep in some parts, paved in some other parts, and includes fire roads and social trails.

We, as senior citizens, paid an entrance fee of $8, and received a black-and-white map of the trail on a 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper, on which the Park Ranger highlighted for us the trail that looped around.

We found the map as well as signage on the trail insufficient for the first-time hikers of that trail, having had to resort to Google Map and guidance of the local hikers that were better familiar with the branching social trails that got us back to the observatory, where I had parked my car.

A store is located just past the gate, inside the park, where one can buy memorabilia, walking sticks and other hiking necessities, as well as maps and directions from...

My husband, my 16month old and me are from Texas and we are on a 10 day camping trip we camped one night in Arizona one night in Carmel California one night in the Phiffer Big Sur state park One night at Pantoll campground and last night we stayed at SugarLoaf Ridge state park and it was my least favorite one by a long shot The park itself is beautiful the camping sites are a decent amount of space apart but are a lot more open then I prefer! The bathrooms are some of the nicest ive ever seen at a campground however if your like us and don't keep a lot of pocket change in your car then your out of luck because it cost 25cents per min to shower but they don't have any machines to make change which is kind of our fault we should be more prepared but the fact that the sled register station has a machine to take your $35 a night (a bit steep in price considering you have to pay extra for showers) you would think they'd have a machine to make change for their quarter only eating showers. Now with that being said I'd still probably give the park a 4 star review the thing that really scored this a 2 star review is the fact that at 8am (a reasonable time for campers to be up I feel) I knocked on the camp hosts door I could here movement in the camper so I knocked again a bit harder in case they didn't hear, I still heard lots of movement but nobody ever answered the door. I would understand if I wouldn't have heard somebody moving around however I did and my second knock was...

Family camping at its best! But. Would've given it 5 stars if they had some sort of gate or cattle guard or railroad crossing at the bridge over the creek into the campground. Call me over-protective, but with the visibility-limiting U-shaped dip, small (under 5) kids, and people driving WAY TOO FAST, it's a recipe for disaster. You have to wonder how many get hit per season.... I digress.

Other than that, the campground, Kenwood Creek, waterfall hikes, campfire program, visitor center with super friendly rangers, docents, and staff, plus petting "zoo" (fur pelts, skeletons, and other artifacts of the area), observatory, and general mucking about is awesome and SO GOOD for families. Kids can get outside and play, explore, and imagine; catch lizards, water striders, and banana slugs; chase squirrels, climb trees, and get poison oak to their heart's content! Ahhhh, childhood! It really is magical. The creek is lovely in June (ankle deep in most places) and the field in the middle of the 8-shaped campground circles is huge. Great for a game of frisbee or volleyball. We didn't have a chance to get to the longer hikes up Bald Mountain or a y of the surrounds, but I heard great things from.other campers and friends. Will for sure be back when the wee is...