Crafting the Overlook for the Years Ahead

Sonoma Overlook LoopWe’re rolling into autumn. As always, we continue our work to keep the trails healthy, safe and accessible. If you’ve visited lately, you’ve seen many freshly graded sections, thanks to our intrepid Maintenance Team.

Yes, we carry out much of the labor ourselves, with pleasure. However, the Overlook lies on a mountain of rock, so when we can, we bring in specialized crews, with specialized equipment, to carry out some of the heavier work. If you’ve been an Overlook devotee for long, you’ll have seen the glorious results of these projects, improvements that are likely to last well beyond our lifetimes.

We are now raising the funds needed to complete the third and final phase of this process and we need your help!

Please consider becoming a part of it all as a supporter of the Overlook Trail, or renewing your support, with a tax-deductible donation to the cause.  What finer purpose than the betterment of a local sanctuary that serves 60,000 visitors a year?

Donate via credit card HERE.

To contribute by check, make it payable to:
“Sonoma Ecology Center”, include “For Sonoma Overlook Trail” in the memo, and send it to:

Sonoma Overlook Trail
c/o Sonoma Ecology Center
PO Box 1486
Eldridge, CA 95431

All donations are tax deductible.

Sonoma Raceway Hike is Back!

unnamed (1)After two years of cancellations due to COVID-19, we are thrilled to invite you once again to join us on this self-guided hike on the pristine 1,600-acre Sonoma Raceway property which is not usually accessible to the public. This special place offers gorgeous 360-degree views; come and see spectacular wildflowers!

Saturday, May 14, 2022 
9 am-12:00 noon

3 mile self-guided hike (approx. 1.5 hours)
5 mile self-guided hike (approx. 2.5 hours)

Cost: $50 Tax deductible, non-refundable donation

REGISTER HERE

8:00am – 8:20am: Arrival/Gates Open
8:20am – 9:00am: Refreshments (Donuts & Coffee) on the Redwood Deck overlooking the Raceway and Sonoma Valley. Sonoma Raceway hosts Chelsea Lazzari, Randall Brown, and Bobby O’Gorman will provide an introduction to the 1,600 acre Sonoma Raceway property before the hike begins.

After two years of cancellations due to Covid, we are thrilled to invite you once again to join us on this self-guided hike on the pristine 1,600-acre Sonoma Raceway property which is not usually accessible to the public. This special place offers gorgeous 360-degree views; come and see spectacular wildflowers!

 

Dia de los Muertos — Day of the Dead Cemetery Tour

Please join us for a lively, informative walk through our historic Mountain Cemetery with amateur historian Fred Allebach. Meet cowboys and Indians, ranchers and real estate tycoons, farmers and farriers, carpenters and stone masons, quarry-men, grocers, butchers, bakers, maybe a candlestick maker, and many more!

There is a $35 fee to raise money for maintaining the Overlook Trail.

When

Saturday, November 2, 2019, sign up for one of two hikes: 10:00 AM or 12 Noon — SIGNUP
Add to Calendar

Where

Meet at the Overlook Trail Kiosk
90 First Street West
Sonoma, CA 95476

Questions?

Hope Nisson
Sonoma Overlook Trail
sonomaoverlooktrail@gmail.com

Sonoma Raceway Hike!

You’re invited to join us for our ever popular and very unique opportunity to tour remote stretches of the hills and valleys surrounding Sonoma Raceway‘s 1,600-acre property and help support a good cause to boot!

Participants can choose either a three or five mile guided hike through the splendid hills and grasslands of the raceway’s extensive open space to the west of the main facility. These somewhat hilly hikes will be guided by Overlook Trail docents and Steve Page, Sonoma Raceway’s President and General Manager. This property, offering 360-degree views and bayland vistas, is not usually accessible to the public.

The route meanders through native grasslands and with our exceptionally wet winter promises to produce a spectacular wildflower season! You may even encounter some “Wooly Weeders” and their Spring lambs in action! Afterwards, we’ll enjoy a catered lunch including wine or soft drinks.

Proceeds support the Sonoma Overlook Trail maintenance, restoration, recreation and education programs run by the Sonoma Overlook Trail Stewards, an all-volunteer group that maintains the Overlook Trail.

Date/Time: Saturday, May 11, 2019 – 10 a.m.-1 p.m
Cost: $50 Non-refundable, Tax Deductible Donation 
Includes:  
  • Docent led hike
  • Lovely picnic lunch catered by Levy Restaurants
  • Wines and non alcoholic drinks
  • Jaw Dropping Views!
Early registration is advised as our similar event sold out last year.

Register Here

The Sonoma Overlook Trail is fiscally sponsored by the Sonoma Ecology Center, a California non-profit 501(c)(3) public benefit corporation qualified to receive tax-deductible donations. Its tax ID number is #94-3136500

Cemetery Walk November 3rd

DIA DE LOS MUERTOS — DAY OF THE DEAD

WALK SONOMA HISTORY THROUGH SONOMA MOUNTAIN CEMETERY

Saturday November 3

10:00 AM OR 12:00 Noon

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

Meet cowboys and Indians, ranchers and real estate tycoons, farmers and farriers, carpenters and stone masons, quarrymen, grocers, butchers, bakers, maybe a candlestick maker, and many more!

Here in our back yard, the fabric of the town’s rich history is hidden right in plain sight,” tour guide Allebach has written about the historic cemetery.  “Sonoma had its Natives, then missionaries, Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo Californios, Gold Rush and Manifest Destiny immigrants, Civil War refugees, and a Second Great Wave of Immigration from southern and eastern Europe from 1880 to 1910. Then came various immigrants on into the 20th century. All of these are represented in the Mountain Cemetery.”

Your $35 donation includes the walking tour and cookies and cider. All proceeds go to maintaining the Overlook Trailhead Kiosk. The Trail is solely supported by private donations. Questions? email Hope at hopenisson@me.com.

To Register: send a check to Hope Nisson, 3771 Cory Lane, Sonoma, CA 95476. Indicate which hike you prefer — 10 am or 12 noon

The event is sponsored by the volunteer Sonoma Overlook Trail Stewards and participation is limited to 20 people per session.