Crane Creek

Crane Creek Regional Park was a perfect short hike to get our hiking legs back. We haven’t been out in a few weeks and needed a touch of nature to ground us again. Life tends to take over free time but we need to take moments to get out and smell the fresh air, see the beauty where we live and spend quiet time just conversing…no technology. Well, I admit I had my fun new camera and my iPhone was tracking our mileage with the Map My Walk app but no TV, radio or any other noise other than the disc golfers, horses, sheep, turkey vultures and our good conversations.

Yes there is a creek at Crane Creek Regional Park! It is dry right now even after a nice little storm we had. The grassy meadows are a lovely brown but the oaks are still green and the vineyard across the street was showing off the beginning of it’s fall glory.

As we walked along, stopped took a picture, then another picture, walked along and repeated several times we enjoyed the view of the city from afar and quietness even though we were just a few miles from town. The road to the park is a nice little drive through a quiet neighborhood of small ranches and vineyards and the park is bordered by private property which is where the sheep and cow were. We did get to see a couple of women on their horses cruising through the park. It’s a great trail for equestrians (watch your step though! :)). The elevation gain is slight and would also be a great place for us to try out our beginner mountain biking skills eventually. I hear this park is part of the wildflower tour here in Sonoma in the spring, definitely marking the calendar to do this again in spring!

Here’s a few pics of our 1.8 mile short hike. It was very nice having an easy one to get back into it!

Feel free to check out Bay Area Hiker’s description of the hike here!