Category Archives: Fundraising

SAVE THE DATE! Our Sonoma Raceway Spring Hike is coming back April 19th, 2026!

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Filed under Events, Fundraising, Hiking, Scenic Views, Spring

YES!!! The Sonoma Overlook Trail Stewards are excited to offer once again our ever-popular, super sellout event this spring,
the Sonoma Raceway Hike!
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SAVE THE DATE!
Sunday, April 19th, 2026 ~ 10 am
Rain Date: Saturday, May 2nd, 2026

A glorious, guided hike overlooking the bay….

Mark your calendar for an unforgettable spring hike through the hills of Sonoma Raceway’s 1,600-acre property on Sun, April 19, 10 am. Enjoy fabulous bay and vineyard views with wildflowers and quite possibly “woolly weeders” hard at work. Choose the three- or five-mile route; a light lunch will follow.

All proceeds will benefit the all-volunteer Sonoma Overlook Trail Stewards to help keep the trail in tip-top shape.  We stewards will be on hand to hike along with you.  This is a great opportunity to support your local trail and take in the panorama of open space along San Pablo Bay.

Ticket cost and details coming soon; we wanted friends of the trail to be the first to know about the return of this beloved event. Please save a spot on your calendar and tell your hiking buddies!

Sonoma Wildflower Hike

Our Year-End Appeal: Help us keep Sonoma Overlook Trail healthy and accessible!

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Filed under Fundraising, Stewardship

The all-volunteer Sonoma Overlook Trail Stewards need your tax-deductible support to continue our work.  Please keep us in your thoughts as you make your year-end donations this giving season!

We receive over 60,000 visits a year, making us, in a sense, the largest nonprofit in Sonoma!  All of this impact wears on the trail and surrounding trail corridor.  Every dollar we receive goes directly to the care of the Overlook.

We each have our reasons for visiting the Overlook Trail.  Some come to see the trees, the wildflowers, hawks, turkeys and deer, or to watch their kids catch (and release!) a lizard.  For some, it’s about elevation gain, heart rate and calorie burn.  The Overlook can be a social stroll, or a place to talk things through up at the Meadow Loop as you sweep your eyes down the Valley and out to sea.  And, especially these days, it’s a sanctuary, an escape from the facets of life that wear on us.

Our ongoing work to keep the Overlook in shape requires investment in tools and other supplies, outreach materials, and sometimes the help of specialized crews to undertake the heavier, more technical endeavors that shape our sometimes-rocky trail into a condition that allows more to enjoy it.

This essential Sonoma paradise—and all who find connection in it—relies on you.  So we ask: If you are inspired to contribute to the tending of this special place, please make a tax-deductible donation to the cause.

  • Make your check payable to “Sonoma Overlook Trail” and mail to:

Sonoma Overlook Trail
P.O. Box 431
Sonoma, CA 95476

Thank you kindly in advance–come visit us on the trail!

Affectionately,
Sonoma Overlook Trail Stewards

Remember us….

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Filed under Fundraising

Fellow devotees of the Overlook Trail,

Our deepest appreciation and thanks to all who have donated to Sonoma Overlook Trail this year. We see you!!

For those who haven’t yet had the chance, during this giving time of year, we hope that you will remember us. We continue to raise funds for the third and final phase of our Overlook Trail rehabilitation, but we need your help get us through!

So we ask: If you are inspired to contribute to the tending of this place, please make a tax-deductible donation to the cause. Your donation will go directly towards the cost of supplies and manpower. You will be able to delight in new stone steps and other elements that we will install to smooth your way.

  • Make your check payable to “Sonoma Ecology Center” and be sure to write “Sonoma Overlook Trail” on the memo line.

  • Or, mail your check to:

Sonoma Overlook Trail
℅ Sonoma Ecology Center
P.O. Box 1486
Eldridge, CA 95431

Thank you kindly in advance–and we hope you have a perfect holiday season….

Sonoma Overlook Trail Stewards

SEEKING OUTREACH VOLUNTEERS!

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Filed under Fundraising, Stewardship

Overlook VolunteerAre you a devotee of the Overlook Trail? (Heck, aren’t we all?) We SOT Stewards are seeking new volunteers to help with outreach and fundraising and we’d LOVE for you to join us!!! No minimum commitment or required hours; just join us and pitch in where you can.

With over 60,000 visits a year, Sonoma Overlook Trail is in one sense the largest nonprofit in the Valley. What better cause than this natural, nurturing space to devote a few spare hours? PLUS, did you know that volunteering is good for your brain?!? Yes!! CONTACT US now for more info….

Dia de los Muertos • Day of the Dead Cemetery Tour

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Filed under Events, Fall, Fundraising, History, Mountain Cemetery, Stewardship

Tour Sonoma History through Mountain Cemetery

Saturday November 4th, 2023
10 am OR 12:30pm
$40 Suggested Donation
REGISTER

The Sonoma Overlook Trail Stewards invite you to take a lively, informative walk through our historic cemetery with our own amateur historian Fred Allebach.

Meet ranchers and ranch hands, real estate tycoons, farmers and farriers, carpenters and stone masons, quarry-men, grocers, butchers, bakers, maybe a candlestick maker, and many more! This fundraising event is limited to 25 participants per hike. We sell out every year, so register early to be sure you get a spot!

We’ll have a hike at 10am and another at 12:30. Your $40 donation includes the walking tour, cookies and cider. All proceeds go toward improvements on the Overlook Trail. The Trail is solely supported by private donations.