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Jack London State Historic Park

Name: Jack London State Historic Park
Rating: 3.08

Type: Trail

Length: 29.00 Miles

Elevation Gain: N/A

Cost: N/A

Rating:

(3.08)12

Difficulty: 2point5stars

(2.83)

Solitude:

(2.92)

ADA Accessible: Yes

Bikes Allowed: Yes

Dogs Allowed: Yes

Interpretive Guide: N/A

Address: 2400 London Ranch Rd.

City: Glen Ellen

County: Sonoma

More Information: More Info

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While you might have read some of London's books, you might not have known that he devoted much of life to experimenting with new techniques in farming and ranching to increase yields and sustainability. The many buildings and ruins in the park are testament to this. Signage and displays provide a good deal of detail about the lengths he went to push the agricultural envelope.

The trails running around and to the farm buildings provide some of the more flat and easier to navigate paths for those wanting a shorter walk or something not too taxing.

The uphill portion of the park is marked by a tree line that partially shields the viewer from the severity of the incline that awaits.

Photos

Many trees in the orchard were in full bloom. I'm sure they enjoyed the rains. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

With all of the recent rains this was about as much water as we've seen in Fern Lake. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

Looking up at the Ancient Redwood. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

Coppertone with the Ancient Redwood in the background. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

Considering that London Lake was bone dry, we were surprised to see this much water in Fern Lake. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

A couple with a guide (?) on the Vineyard Trail. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

A couple of newer bridges across creekbed crossings make the going easy on the Vineyard Trail. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

Looking across the vineyard and Sonoma Valley from the Vineyard Trail. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

From a spot along Lake Service Road, looking over Sonoma Valley to the Mayacamas Mountains to the northeast. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

Coppertone approaches the bridge crossing North Asbury Creek which marks the halfway point on the trail segment. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

An early section of the Upper Fallen Bridge Trail is an open meadow though most of the trail has lots of cover. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

At a shady rest spot one can sit and enjoy this nice view across Sonoma Valley and look up the Mayacamas Mountains in the distance. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

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Log Entries

Breaking in new shoes
By Austin Explorer on 3/25/2023
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Distance: 3.76 Miles Duration: 1 hour, 20 minutes

Coppertone and I wanted a non-muddy hike after lots of recent rains, so we came back here to the back of Jack London State Park. The weather was spectacular and the shoes and my feet seemed to hold up pretty well.

The orchard next to Camp Via was in full bloom and everything looked very verdant. A nice change from the dry and brown scene in the not too distant past.

Unexpected walk with friends
By Austin Explorer on 1/8/2023
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Distance: 3.80 Miles Duration: 1 hour, 44 minutes

Coppertone and I took advantage of a relatively dry weekend day to go for a walk into the back of Jack London State Park. All of the natural trails were certainly quagmires of mud from the days of incessant rain. The paved road of this hike was the perfect option for us.

At the gate near the start of Orchard Road we came across two neighbors who were with friends starting their walk. We ended up going with them and chatting the entire way.

We hiked uphill to the old Camp Via site, looped around the camp and then doubled back down to the Developmental Center. It was a nice bit of exercise that totaled out to a bit less than 4 miles. And our shoes did not end up caked in mud!

Visiting one of our elders
By Austin Explorer on 10/9/2022
Rating: 3stars

Difficulty: 3stars

Solitude:

Distance: 5.02 Miles Duration: 2 hours, 34 minutes

Coppertone and I returned to Jack London State Park to map another couple of trail segments we had not done in the past. We started off heading uphill via the Service Road. In almost exactly the same spot we saw this behavior before on a previous hike we spotted a ground squirrel hanging on the top of the wire fence between the trail and vineyard. This time we knew he must be OK so we observed from a distance. He looked in our direction and went back to sunbathing, or whatever he was doing. He was gone by the time we came back that way.

Once we got to London Lake we moved onto Vineyard Trail, one of the segments we had only partly hiked before. The trail is aptly named as it parallels the vineyard that the park wraps around on three sides. From this trail there are some nice views across Sonoma Valley and through to the Mayacamas Mountains. The trail was also the recipient of some decent trail maintenance in the form of some nice wooden bridges the span creek crossings.

We were behind a couple who appeared to be on a hike with a guide and we suspected they were headed straight for the Ancient Redwood tree. So we turned onto Ashbury Creek Trail to do our planned loop in the opposite direction of their travel. Perhaps we could get the tree to ourselves later. At one spot along Ashbury a large tree had recently fallen across the trail. No one had yet cut up the trunk so we scrambled over to keep going.

Once we got near Fern Lake we took the Fern Lake Trail west toward the four way junction near the Ancient Redwood. Here we had the first of several encounters with horses on the trail. The equines were friendly enough, but took less interest in us when they realized we didn't have food for them.

When we got to the Ancient Redwood Spur our guided couple was nowhere to be seen. But some others were at the tree. As luck would have it, they all left just as we entered. We sat and enjoyed our peaceful solitude with our elder.

When we left we returned via the Vineyard Trail and Service Road to double back down the mountain. We took the Horse Trail near the trailhead that dumps out on the parking lot opposite from our starting point and reunited with a couple of the horses (and their riders) we had seen on the trail.

Mapping Upper Fallen Bridge Trail
By Austin Explorer on 9/11/2022
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Distance: 4.44 Miles Duration: 2 hours, 19 minutes

I had a couple of goals during this trip to Jack London. First, I needed to map the Upper Fallen Bridge Trail segment, which had escaped my notice in the past. Secondly, I wanted to try out saving geocaches to a saved list on my phone to confirm I could see its details and navigate to it even without cell phone coverage. Success on both accounts.

We spotted a large number of ground squirrels darting around the vineyard. Later in the hike we spotted a large number of dead "meat bees" around a piece what might have been chicken on the ground. We're not sure what happened there.

Coppertone and I did a balloon hike covering a bit less than 5 miles including our needed trail. The weather was a bit weird. Kind of warm and very still. The stillness made the warmth feel even hotter than it was. A little breeze now and then would have helped a great deal.

Relief came when we got to the middle of the Upper Fallen Bridge Trail. The temperature in the North Ashbury Creek valley here was noticeably cooler than elsewhere on this day. A very pleasant stroll here.

Coppertone was having some blister issues with her shoes, so we took the most direct route down the mountain at that point. We did stop along the Lake Service Road trail to find the geocache mentioned earlier then we called it a day.

Lake Loop
By Austin Explorer on 8/21/2022
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Distance: 3.21 Miles Duration: 1 hour, 39 minutes

Coppertone and I had a couple of things we wanted to try out in addition to getting a couple of miles in. Our attempt at geocaching in the park was thwarted by no network connectivity. But I think I figured out how to download and store cache info on my phone prior to heading out for future reference. So not an entire loss.

We also wanted to check out the new VR experience app for some of the historic buildings on site. You'll definitely need to download this one prior to visiting the park as it is quite large. When pointing at some of the structures you're also to see video of a Jack London impersonator provide some of the building's details. They also have some 3D renditions and videos. It's kind of cool, and free, so check it out.

For the hike, we elected to do a loop around London Lake to map out a section or two of trail we had not yet mapped. Near the Pig Palace we saw a ground squirrel hanging on the wire fence along the boundary of the park and vinyard on the other side. We stopped and it was perfectly motionless. Its back was turned to us and so we though the poor guy might be dead. But he eventually turned his head, saw us and scurried over the fence with eaze and disappeared into the brush.

In the end we logged a bit over 3 miles. Even though some of that was wandering around the buildings with the VR app we're going to count all of it as hiking! :-)

Last hike of the year
By Austin Explorer on 12/30/2021
Rating: 3stars

Difficulty: 2stars

Solitude:

Distance: 3.77 Miles Duration: 1 hour, 29 minutes

Coppertone and I wanted to get some more miles in before the end of the year. But we also did not want to walk a muddy mess. So we opted to hike into Jack London State Historic Park from the back Sonoma Developmental Center. We'd done this hike a couple of times before. It was not until I'm logging this hike now that I realized it was almost exactly one year ago today (off by one day) that we made the same trek!

Today we stayed on Orchard Road alone. This ensured a paved, non-muddy surface for the entirety of our walk. The pavement was often wet, but not slick. We're planning on hitting a non-paved trail in a couple of days. Hopefully a few days of sunshine will give the ample moisture some time to soak into the earth.

The hike from SDC to Camp Via is all uphill, though the overall elevation gain was not that bad. In all we gained about 700 feet heading out. On the flipside, the path back was gravity assisted all the way to our trailhead.

Last hike of the year, mapping more trail segments
By Austin Explorer on 12/31/2020
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Distance: 5.93 Miles Duration: 3 hours, 7 minutes

Coppertone and I chose to revisit Jack London State Park to map out some more trail segments we had not yet visited. We parked at the back of the Sonoma Developmental Center once again and hiked in through Orchard Road. We were retracing some of the path we walked not too long ago but things went a bit more quickly since we didn't stop to find caches along the way.

Orchard Road ends at Camp Via, a summer camp previously used by SDC. The buildings are dilapidated now, with the campers' shelters in particular falling apart. The main building seems intact enough but all of this seems to be completely abandoned. We're not sure what the state's plans are for it.

Once we got to Camp Via we walked some of the crisscrossed paths that go through Jack London's orchards. Many of the trees here seem neglected and are barely holding on. A few others seemed to have tapped into the fountain of youth. The disparity is a bit strange. Camp Via Trail and Orchard Trail mark an "X" through the orchard and each consists of gently sloping jeep trails and a bit of single track trails. There is a nice little spot off of Orchard Trail that provides a nice view over the orchard and Camp Via.

We did find a couple of geocaches while we were in the area and made our way back to the car just doubling back along Orchard Road.

Mapping segments and finding caches
By Austin Explorer on 12/24/2020
Rating: 3stars

Difficulty: 3stars

Solitude:

Distance: 4.59 Miles Duration: 3 hours, 31 minutes

Coppertone and I parked at the Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) and hiked in the back way along Orchard Road. This allowed us quicker access to several trail segments around Fern Lake that we had not yet hiked and mapped. There was plenty of parking at the state facility, which is in the process of being decommissioned.

Orchard Road is a paved road and hardly constitutes a true hiking experience. However, it is closed to all traffic with the exception of some employees. So it provides an easy path into Jack London State Park. The road actually ends at Camp Via which technically remains part of SDC and is completely enclosed by the park.

Along Orchard Road is Eldridge Cemetery. SDC patients (previously SDC was known as The California Home for the Care and Training of Feebleminded Children) and 2 employees were buried between 1892 and 1939. Headstones were removed in 1964 to protect the privacy of the families so all of the graves appear unmarked now.

We took a right onto Bay Trail to start a counterclockwise circumnavigation of Fern Lake. Fern Lake Trail and Inner Fern Lake Trail were used to complete the loop. Fern Lake seemed bigger than I was expecting. I was also a bit surprised by the number of ducks and other waterfowl in the lake. While hiking near the lake there was a near constant cacophony of duck squabbling or flights initiated or terminated in the water. Lots of reeds and plants along the lake shore provides ample cover for the birds.

The trail segments around the lake were single track packed dirt trails. "Real" hiking, if you like. One section, which corresponded with the lowest elevation above the lake were a bit overgrown and the surface moist, despite the dry winter thus far. During times of heavy rain this route may not be pleasant, if at all possible. We also say a bit of poison oak, so be careful out there.

Part of the decision on where to hike also hinged on how many geocaches we would be able to find while we hiked. In the end we snagged 8 new caches. I also had the leasure of picking up a tick in the process, but hopefully got it removed before it could do any damage.

Knowing about the back entrance to the park means mapping out additional segments around the historic orchard area should be in our plans in 2021.

A short stroll and a lot of history
By Austin Explorer on 4/14/2019
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Distance: 1.91 Miles Duration: 2 hours, 15 minutes

During all of our previous visits to Jack London State Park Coppertone and I had not visited many of the historic exhibits here. We always intended to do so, but we were more focused on hitting the trails than looking at exhibits. Today we wanted a nice leisurely walk and decided to log some of the trails that focus more on the life and legacy of Jack London and his "mate" Charmian.

The Wold House Service Road is a one lane paved service road that heads towards Jack's dream home, the Wolf House. The path is pleasant enough for a paved trail and might be ADA compliant. It parallels a small stream that was flowing nicely with a couple of tiny waterfalls here and there. In a mile or less you'll come up to Jack's dream abode. Sadly, he and Charmian never got to enjoy the house as it burned in a fire just weeks before construction was to be finished. All that remains are bare stone walls, some held up by steel support beams the state has put in place to keep the remaining structure from deteriorating further. A small loop of trail provides views of the mansion from different angles. An elevated platform "enters" the perimeter of the building and provides views of the reflecting pond and other features.

On the way back we took the short spur trail leading to the site of Jack and Charmian's graves. A simple rock lies over their cremated remains. If there were no fence and wooden sign indicating this was their resting place you would hardly give it a second thought. The graves of the two pioneer children who lie nearby have resting places that are more significant.

The single track trail leading to the House of Happy Walls Museum was the way we headed back to the parking lot. The museum had just undergone an extensive renovation and we found the exhibits very interesting. Be sure to place your finger on the letters of the large metal topographic map near the entrance. It's a multimedia spectacle. If you're a Jack London fan then you'll definitely want to visit the museum and visit its well stocked gift shop that has special editions of most of his works.

In all we got in just short of 2 miles, not counting the distance we covered in the museum itself. Not a serious hike today, but a pleasant morning.

Muddy Day
By Austin Explorer on 3/25/2018
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Distance: 7.38 Miles Duration: 3 hours, 47 minutes

Coppertone and I had decided to revisit Jack London State Park earlier Saturday when the forecast was for no rain for the next week. Saturday night it rained, but we didn't change our plans. So we encountered some fairly muddy trails in certain parts of the park. Coppertone indicated that it's "always" muddy when we visit. It wasn't until later I logged onto hikingtrailhead.com and saw that our two previous hiking visits here were in January of different years. Not exactly the best time to avoid rain and mud!

We ventured into the park's SE corner to hike some of the trails near Fern Lake and the historic orchards. Our preferred path there, Vineyard Trail, was closed for the "season". We're not sure what the season is, but I would guess it has something to do with winter and it's rains. We doubled back and went down Quarry, which bypassed the closed segment.

We did a loop around Fern Lake, leaving the park property for a brief period of time. When we looped back into the park we had intended to circumnavigate the lake on Inner Fern Lake Trail. However, the trail from Orchard Road seemed to be a bit overgrown and had some brush piled up on it, something that's often done when park managers don't want people walking down trails.

We had another option in Red Hill Road (it's a jeep trail maybe, not a real road) that we took to SDC's Camp Via. A large tree had recently fallen across the trail that we had to skirt under, but it didn't provide too much of an obstacle.

From Camp Via we we stopped by to visit the nearby Ancient Redwood. A kiosk as we approached seemed to highlight a nice, but scarcely impression grove of Redwoods that gave Coppertone a bit of a letdown. But we continued down the path and were rewarded with a suitably impressive giant that clearly lorded over the young upstarts we had spotted a bit earlier. This old giant has apparently seen 2,000 years of history. Very impressive.

We completed a loop around the edges of the orchards, crossed over South Asbury Creek and used the Fallen Bridge trails to get back to Mountain Trail for the main (and somewhat less muddy) path back to the trailhead.

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