On Saturday the Spouse and I (whoa, still not used to typing that!) went up to Shiloh Park, a County Regional Park about 12 miles north/northeast of us. The park is between Windsor and Larkfield. From Highway 101, take the Shiloh Road exit and head east until East Shiloh Road intersects with Faught Road. Turn right on Faught The park is immediately on your left.
This space used to be a cattle ranch, and it drapes the ridge of hills like a saddle blanket. This time of year the park is green; in six weeks expect those hills to be caramel-brown as the grass dries out. We studied the directory of the park in the parking lot and decided to take the Creekside Trail up to the pond, then come back along the Ridge Trail.
In difficulty, Creekside Trail lands between a “strenuous walk” and an “easy hike.” There are some altitude changes, but it isn’t too steep. The creek in the gulch below us burbled musically, rippling over the rocks. In spite of all the rain and the rills of water leaching out of the hillside the creek was very shallow, just a translucent trickle.
It was about 70 degrees; quiet except for our breathing, the whirr of startled grasshoppers and, once in a while, the chirp of a songbird. As we climbed up toward the pond we heard wild turkeys once, and human voices.
The pond is not a big expanse of water, which hasn’t stopped a colony of Canadian geese from making it their home. We stopped for a few minutes to talk to a young couple sitting on one of the benches enjoying the sun. The geese ignored us for the most part. As we continued our walk around the pond they started honking and there was a brazen hullabaloo for several minutes. Maybe they missed us.
Creekside intersects with the Ridge Trail about a quarter mile past the creek. From the crossroads you have a pretty dramatic view west of the Santa Rosa valley, but it gets even more dramatic farther up. We chose to go right which led up the ridge.
The backs of my thighs were starting to hurt, a reminder of how sedentary I’d been this winter. Everywhere I looked was green except for the sky, which was the clear blue we get here only in early spring and early fall. Along the ridge line the woods are made up of live oak, madrone, bay and buckeye trees. We could hear the wild turkeys but never saw them, unlike the quartet of noisy ravens who spiraled around overhead, knocking and chuckling before they went back to one of the tall trees on the other side of the ridge. The ridge trail is steep and we had more trouble on the declines than the inclines (and now the backs of my calves were hurting). The views, however, were worth every twinge. Like the green grass, the distance and clarity of these views are seasonal; you won’t be able to see to the coast range in the summer, when you’ll either have fog or smog. Seventy degrees, at the top of the ridge, was just about right. I brought water, but we didn’t need it, and there are drinking fountains in the park next to the rest rooms and the gazebo.
The park has added one or two memorial benches along the trail. They are not best placed for viewing, more for resting.
The park is about 800 acres. We chose a 2 ½ mile loop for our walk; you can walk the full ridge trail if you go right out of the parking lot instead of left. I think we got the best views the way we went.
The park is open to horses, so watch where you step! According to the county website, there is no fishing, no dogs at Shiloh, and no camping. This is a fine day-hike and picnic park and a good place to bring kids who have some kind of nature assignment for school, like identifying native species or something.
Parking is $6/car. Six dollars, if you carpool, is a pretty good deal for a few hours in this beautiful sample of nature. We have a park pass, so we used it. It was a fine way to celebrate a superior spring day.