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Taylor Mountain Regional Park and Open Space Preserve

Name: Taylor Mountain Regional Park and Open Space Preserve
Rating: 4.00

Type: Trail

Length: 5.50 Miles

Elevation Gain: 1086 Feet

Cost: $7.00

Rating:

(4.00)2

Difficulty: 3point5stars

(3.50)

Solitude:

(2.50)

ADA Accessible: N/A

Bikes Allowed: Yes

Dogs Allowed: Yes

Interpretive Guide: No

Address: 2080 Kawana Terrace

City: Santa Rosa

County: Sonoma

More Information: More Info

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Photos

Penny working her way along the trail back to our trailhead. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

The trail hugs a gentle slope leading down to the city below. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

Parts of the Western Route sport large open grasslands sprinkled with clusters of trees. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

Penny looking off into the distance over Santa Rosa.

This rocky point was along one of the park's maverick trails that at first glance appears official. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

The Todd Creek Trail is almost entirely covered by tree and provides a welcome relief from the Sun. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

Coppertone stops along the Western Route as we make our way downhill and towards the trailhead. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

The twisting Sky Lupine Trail hugs the side of the hill and crosses the more heavily trafficked Eastern Route several times. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

A view from the top of the park, just short of the Taylor Mountain Peak, which is on private property. Looking generally west towards the Pacific Ocean. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

Looking back on the Eastern Route shows the panorama of Santa Rosa below. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

And the ascent up Taylor Mountain continues for some time. Don't be fooled in thinking the high point seen here is ultimately the top. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

Most of the Eastern Route up to Taylor Mountain is a steady steep incline on a jeep trail surface. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

There's not much tree cover on the Eastern Route leading up to Taylor Mountain. These patches of trees are fooling you! (Photo by Austin Explorer)

Log Entries

Plenty of new trails since our last visit
By Austin Explorer on 7/2/2026
Rating: 4stars

Difficulty: 3stars

Solitude:

Distance: 4.46 Miles Duration: 2 hours, 25 minutes

The trail map for Taylor Mountain Regional Park looks a lot different than the last time we were here. Because of this, we focused our efforts on hitting some of the new trails (to us) from the Petaluma Hill trailhead. We had already "summited" Taylor Mountain in the past. Shockingly, this was 10 years ago!

We made a loop using the trails from trailhead with most of our distance consisting of the Western Route and Sky Lupine Trail. The overcast weather at the start of the day kept the conditions pleasant almost to the point where we were wrapping up our day. If we had planned our route a little better we could have squeezed in some more mileage. There are a number of well worn maverick trails here and there that threw us off now and then since not every single official trail junction has a marker.

I'm looking forward to a return visit in order to hike up to the East Knoll, a peak that was not accessible during our previous visit.

To the top, almost, of Taylor Mountain
By Austin Explorer on 7/3/2016
Rating:

Difficulty:

Solitude:

Distance: 4.82 Miles Duration: 2 hours, 38 minutes

The forecast for the day said a high of 78, so we thought the exposed climb to the top of Taylor Mountain would not be too bad. It certainly felt a lot hotter than that! But Coppertone and I powered our way up the Eastern Route to the peak with only a few stops to rest and take a photo or two.

We spent a good deal of time at the top catching our breath, snacking, hydrating and enjoying the 180 degree view Santa Rosa and other areas below.

We were surprised at the number of hikers making their way up the mountain. Sure, the weather was pretty good, but the trails here draw more visitors than we expected to see. Strangely, the were almost no one on the twisting Sky Lupine Trail despite the more gradual ascent to the top it provides.

We descended down the Western Route and the Todd Creek Trail where the extra tree cover was a welcome relief from the Sun. Just short of 5 miles back at the trailhead we decided to call it a day.