Stewarded and owned by LandPaths for more than 20 years, the Grove of Old Trees is a healthy, old-growth stand of Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) Accessible only via a narrow, two-lane rural road, the Grove is tucked away in a neighborhood on a road used by neighbors for walking and biking.
Please read the following carefully before visiting the Grove of Old Trees
Please note that the Grove of Old Trees is a very small privately maintained public park down a narrow rural road in the middle of a neighborhood. The Grove has just one small parking lot and there is no street parking allowed for the safety of residents and visitors. There are no bathrooms at the Grove and no running water. If you are looking for a grand, accessible redwood experience in Sonoma County, please consider visiting Armstrong Woods State Park in Guerneville, which has much more acreage, parking, and facilities. Riverfront Regional Park also has a lovely, small redwood grove with plenty of parking and facilities.
- Keep your dog on leash at all times in the Grove. Pick up after your dog and take poop bags out of the Grove with you. Leave No Trace.
- Drive safely: Driving slowly and following the speed limit is essential for everyone’s safety.
- Pull over to allow other cars to pass: Fitzpatrick Lane, the road that leads to the Grove, is a rural single-lane road where neighbors walk and ride bikes and have the right to do so safely. When you visit the Grove, please pull over when necessary to allow other cars to pass.
- Park only in the designated parking area: If the small Grove-specific parking lot area is full, please return at another time. Parking on the street is absolutely not allowed.
- Leave no trace: Please pack out anything that you bring into the Grove, respect any wildlife that you encounter, and leave behind things of nature that you find. We are all stewards of the Grove.
About Grove of Old Trees
Stewarded and owned by LandPaths for more than 20 years, the Grove of Old Trees is a healthy, old-growth stand of Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens). Enjoy the beauty and grandeur of the trees on easy trails, some suitable for wheelchairs and strollers. The Grove of Old Trees is the first and now one of only two privately owned preserves in Sonoma County that is publicly accessible and free to all.
A note on dogs: Dog must be kept on leash at at all times. Please do not leave poop bags from your dog in the Grove. Leave no trace. We have a small stewardship staff with limited capacity and there is no one to come along and pick those up besides yourself.
How to Get Involved.
- You are warmly welcomed to sign up for a volunteer stewardship day at the Grove of Old Trees. Check our Calendar to see if any opportunities are coming up.
- Get involved with Friends of the Grove. (Contact us at [email protected] to find out how!)
- Or join LandPaths for an outing, stewardship day, nature camp in Sonoma County at other preserves and community garden that we steward.
- Click here for a list of the Flora of the Grove of Old Trees to explore while walking the trails!
Stay in touch
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About LandPaths
LandPaths is an environmental education and conservation leader with the mission is to foster a love of the land in Sonoma County. We believe everyone should have access to the awe and inspiration of nature.
Annually, we engage thousands of participants like you in joyful, caring, and transformative relationship with the land. We do this mainly through creative outings led in both English and Spanish, environmental education, teen treks, and nature camps for youth with a focus on equity and inclusion, and people-powered land stewardship of local open spaces.
With a deep commitment to equity in the outdoors and building reciprocal relationships, LandPaths’ programs are offered free or sliding scale, or with robust scholarships, led by diverse staff and volunteers, and cultivate common purpose while connecting people and the land.
History
The Grove of Old Trees is located on the unceded ancestral territory of the Southern Pomo people and Coast Miwok people. For years, the Grove of Old Trees was owned by two families, the Colemans and the Van Alstynes. The families operated sawmills in the area, but reserved the redwoods in the Grove as a family gathering place.
Unfortunately, in the 1990s the grand redwoods were slated to be cut down as part of a Timber Harvest Plan. You can actually see blue stripes painted on certain trees that were in line to be harvested.
A group of county residents known as Friends of the Grove launched the long campaign to protect the remnant stands of redwoods. Thanks to the tireless work of neighbors and environmental activists, the blue stripes are a reminder of a fate averted.
LandPaths former board member Caryl Hart was also instrumental in the final successful push to save the Grove of Old Trees.
In 2000, LandPaths purchased Grove of Old Trees with the assistance of Sonoma County Ag + Open Space, Save The Redwoods League, California Coastal Conservancy, and private individuals. Today, Sonoma Ag + Open Space holds a Forever Wild conservation easement on the property, which mandates a zero take of the trees.
The property will stand forever as a publicly accessible forest preserve, a place for research, respite, and environmental education. We cherish this living remnant of the redwood forests that once covered much of the Northern California coast.
