West County Trail

Today, I went for a walk on the West County Trail ,  which is part of Sonoma County Regional Parks.  It is a multi-use trail that links Sebastopol, Graton and Forestville. I walked with a co-worker and friend, and we were so busy talking and catching up that I forgot to take photos, except for this one at the end of the walk:



We started at O'Reilly Media, and walked to the Sebastopol Community Center and back.  It was about an hour walk.   There were a lot of people on the trail at the time that we were walking in late afternoon, so we had to wear masks most of the time.

I typically ride bicycle on this trail, as it goes right to my daughters' school, to my office at work, and it's a beautiful ride between Graton and Forestville!  I highly recommend it for bike riding, if you are looking for a safe place to ride with kids (and no cars).  The only part I don't like (if you have young kids) is there is a bit of street riding along Occidental Road to connect to the Graton/Forestville leg, and its a busy road with lots of traffic, though there is a size-able curb to ride on.

There are many places along the way to gain access to the trail.  O'Reilly Media is a good place, so is The Sebastopol Community Center, Andy's Market (where they have bathrooms, a coffee kiosk and of course, lots of snacks to buy.)  I've also parked in downtown Graton.   Prior to the pandemic, one of our favorite ways to enjoy this trail was to start in Sebastopol and stop at the Willowwod Cafe in Graton for lunch, then onto Forestville and back. Hopefully we can get back to that in 2021.


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