On the trail: Ragle Ranch Blackberry Trail

Well, we have been busy, busy bees, working on creating our daycare and dog training space at the farm (update soon!) as well as doing all the confusing stuff you're supposed to do to start a small business, and we haven't had much time to get out and hike! The nice thing is that my grandma's property, where we are currently living, has a wonderfully creek right down the hill, so even though we haven't been doing much actual hiking, we've been able to take all three critters to romp, climb, and swim down at the creek a few times a week. But Monday after work, my mom and I decided to take a quick sunset hike at the park near her house — it was a quick little hike but it was nice to get back out there, so here is a little info for you:



Location: Ragle Ranch Regional Park, Sebastopol
Length: 1.5 miles
Difficulty: Easy Peasy
Parking: $7 day use pass, but since it's such a short hike you can easily park outside the park and walk in to get a little extra distance in.

To get to the trail head you can either go in directly from the main entrance, down the main road that curves left toward the dog park, or you can take a left along the first field and then follow the path that goes between the two fields. The trail head is located just to the right of the dog park, which is a fun little park to visit, as well! It only has one area (no big dog/small dog side) but there are designated small dog only hours, as well. It's quite clean and everyone is pretty friendly!

The trail forks in two - on the right you have the Towhee Trail, but you'll continue straight on the Blackberry Trail. It's pretty amazing how quickly you transition from feeling as if you are in a bustling public park to being in a quiet, natural trail setting, and the temperature noticeably dropped as we entered the more dense foliage. There are two of these little wooden bridges as you cross the Atascadero Creek and then come back across about midway through the trail.

The terrain is gentle and primarily flat, carrying you from thick wooded areas, out into a serene open meadow, and back into the trees. Little Muchacho did wonderfully and abstained from barking at all passersby, but he did get noticeably jumpier as it grew darker in the wooded areas.



Finally, at the end of the trail you can either curve left and loop around the picnic areas, or head straight, to the paved road, which leads back to the main entrance again. It's a gentle little loop that will probably become one of our go-to walking spots as it's so close to my Mom's. It's also walk-able from downtown Sebastopol, so if you've never spent any time in the quaint town I highly recommend incorporating a bit of walking around town into your hike! In particular I recommend trying the incredible Screamin' Mimi's ice creamery!

Sonoma County friends, tell us — what are your favorite nearby hikes? It's been a long time since I've lived in this area, so I have a lot of exploring to do and would love some suggestions!