Sonoma Mountain, a backdrop to Sonoma Valley’s wine country and local wineries, has long been admired in Sonoma County, but the public has only managed to view the mountain from a distance, as the land has been privately owned by the Stevenson family since it acquired the 283 acres on the peak, 150 years ago in a land grant. But as of the end of this year, the property that sits atop Sonoma County’s 2,463-foot mountain, will become public land in an agreement formulated by the Land Trust, Open Space District, and Sonoma County’s Agricultural Preserve using a ¼ cent sales tax to address the $10 million purchase price. The same groups affected a similar transaction recently when the 5,400-acre Jenner Headlands on the Sonoma coast also became public land earlier this month.
The addition of the 283 acres at the peak will bring the total property to 5,500-acres of public land on Sonoma Mountain. This will also mean that Sonoma Mountain will join the other mountain peaks around the San Francisco bay area that belong to the public: San Bruno Mountain, Mount Diablo, Mount Saint Helena, and Mount Tamalpais, and lend to the total of 550 trail miles on the ridges of these peaks surrounding the San Francisco bay area. This purchase also allows for the ridgeline to be completed that runs twenty-five miles through Sonoma County, from the Bennett Valley, down to the San Pablo Bay. From the 2,463 foot peak, hikers will gain vistas of the San Pablo Bay, the San Francisco Bay, the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and the Pacific Ocean. To the west is Osborn Preserve and to east sits Jack London State Historic Park. The Sonoma County property will eventually be incorporated into the regional or state parks system.
