Visiting Parks In My Own Backyard

Ok I'm a little behind in the times when it comes to blogging so this will be a learn as I go kind of project for me.  This morning while mindlessly stumbling on the internet (by the way if you haven't discovered stumbleupon.com I strongly suggest you check it out) I looked out the window and noticed what a beautiful day it was outside.  I didn't want to be sitting on my butt stumbling on my computer all day saving all different craft projects that in all honesty I have good intentions of doing, I just don't know when (maybe once I retire 30 years from now).   The sun was shining and not a cloud in the sky so I switched from stumbling the searching for parks to visit in my area, then and idea hit me.  Every weekend I'm going to try to visit a different park in Sonoma County, CA. Lets face it being a parent and wanting to go places that the kids will enjoy is not always a easy task to do.  So this is my way on contributing for the good of all parents by Andy and I reviewing our beautiful parks in Sonoma County along with a bunch of pictures.

Today I took my 7 year old son Andy to Riverfront Regional Park in Healdsburg (closer to Windsor) http://www.sonoma-county.org/parks/pk_riverfront.htm.

Riverfront Regional Park

Location

Located at 7821 Eastside Road in Healdsburg (closer to Windsor).

What You Need to Know

Hours	The park is open daily. Most Sonoma County Regional parks open at 8:00 a.m. and close at sunset.
Parking	$7.00 per vehicle for day use. Special rates apply to buses or trucks carrying more than 9 people.
Dogs	Permitted on leash no longer than 6' in length. Rabies certificate required.
Facilities	Two group picnic areas with BBQs, volleyball court and horseshoe pit. Individual picnic sites. Drinking fountain, flush toilets. Fishing access, trails.
ADA Access	Good accessibility to parking, restrooms and group picnic area.

Located adjacent to the Russian River, Riverfront Regional Park is just minutes west of downtown Windsor. The main attractions in the park are two former gravel pits which have been reclaimed as lakes offering bass fishing. No swimming is allowed in the lakes. Amenities include two day-use picnic areas, a two-mile multiuse trail around Lake Benoist and a half mile long trail over Redwood Hill. Dogs are allowed on 6’ leash (this description is straight from the county site)

My thoughts on the park:
The park was absolutely beautiful. I thought the trails were nice and easy to walk.  There were a couple of different trails around Lake Benoist you could stay on the main trail which is big enough to have a car drive on and pretty even all the way around.  Or you could take the little trail that is closer to the edge of the lake, we took the majority of this trail.  The trial was narrow in spots, but I didn't find it being hard to walk at all.  The views of the lake were gorgeous.  There are benches in spots all around the lake to sit and soak in the views.  A picnic area is settled among the redwoods, which I should of packed us a lunch instead of hitting McDonald on the way home!  I will being going back to this park.  I think the next time I go will be in the winter so we can see the little stream filled with water.

Andy's thoughts:
The park was really good.  Favorite thing was dipping my feet in the water.  Trails are ok, didn't like the trails that are curvy. Rating it an A.  -Short and straight to the point!

Pictures from today: