The Santa Rosa area, in the heart of the Redwood Country north of San Francisco, offers a variety of urban and wilderness parks, including Luther Burbank Home and Gardens, Howarth Park, Spring Lake Park and Annadel State Park.
The Luther Burbank Home and Gardens are located in the center of Santa Rosa at the corner of Santa Rosa and Sonoma Avenues. See the Area Map.
The
famed horticulturist (1849 - 1926) lived and worked at this site. He was one of Sonoma
County's most famous citizens. The well-tended 4-acre gardens feature plants developed by
Burbank. Restored buildings in the park include Luther Burbank's home, a carriage house
which features a gift shop, and a green-house.
Howarth Park, managed by the City of Santa Rosa, Spring
Lake Park, operated by the Sonoma County Regional Parks Department
and Annadel State Park are adjoining
parks, allowing a hiker to walk from the city streets of Santa Rosa to the wilderness
of Annadel State Park. See
the Area Map.
Howarth Park and Spring Lake Park each feature a small lake with launching ramp for
non-power boats and fishing; extensive picnic facilities and approximately six miles of
paved hiking trails. Spring Lake Park includes an improved camp ground with showers, paved
vehicle parking, picnic tables and barbecue pits. A swimming lagoon with lifeguards is
open during the summer months. Both parks offer boat rental during the summer months.
Camping information for Spring Lake Park
Spring Lake
Annadel State Park is an undeveloped park
of 5,000 acres, with 35 miles of trails inviting hikers, horse riders and mountain
bikers. The park includes open meadows, mixed woodlands and Redwood forest.
Lake Ilsanjo is a small lake in the park. Fishing is permitted.
Annadel State Park is often referred to as an urban wilderness. Indeed, the city of Santa
Rosa shares 2-1/2 miles of the park's western boundary; city residents have a wilderness
at their doorstep. The feature that stands out most is the park's variety. One can walk in
cool shaded forests, then into mixed oaks, onto expansive meadows, around a lake's shore,
through tangled chaparral, and return to forest coolness in the space of only a few miles.
Historically, quarrying was the most important human activity in the park from both the
Native American and European standpoint. Deposits of obsidian may have been used by Pomo
and Wappo tribes for more than 3,000 years before Europeans entered the land. The
Europeans fashioned paving stones from the local basalt rock, an industry from the 1870s
to the 1920s. Much of the rock helped in the rebuilding of San Francisco after the 1906
earthquake.
Park visitors say that the best feature of Annadel State Park is its natural beauty, open
space, nature. Hikers, joggers, horseback riders and mountain bike enthusiasts consider
Annadel a favorite daytime destination.
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