The best family-friendly hikes and walks in Taylor Mountain Regional Park And Open Space Preserve

Trail around the southern perimeter of Annadel State Park to Bennet Mountain

Lake Ilsanjo is a hidden gem in Annadel State Park: it's a small, quiet lake. There are many trails and even some swimming spots.

Free entrance to beautiful 1.6 acres of blooming flowers, demonstration orchards and agricultural crops in this preserved gardens of American Botanist Luther Burbank (March 7, 1849 – April 11, 1926). This pioneer in agricultural science developed more than 800 strains and varieties of plants over his 55-year career. Burbank's varied creations included fruits, flowers, grains, grasses, and vegetables. He developed (but did not create) a spineless cactus (useful for cattle-feed) and the plumcot. Burbank's most successful strains and varieties include the Shasta daisy, the fire poppy (note possible confusion with the California wildflower, Papaver californicum, which is also called a fire poppy), the "July Elberta" peach, the "Santa Rosa" plum, the "Flaming Gold" nectarine, the "Wickson" plum (named after agronomist Edward J. Wickson), the freestone peach, and the white blackberry. A natural genetic variant of the Burbank potato with russet-colored skin later became known as the Russet Burbank potato. This large, brown-skinned, white-fleshed potato has become the world's predominant potato in food processing. The Russet Burbank potato was in fact invented to help with the devastating situation in Ireland during the Irish Potato famine. This particular potato variety was created by Burbank to help "revive the country's leading crop" as it is blight-resistant. The blight is a disease that spread and destroyed potatoes all across Europe but caused extreme chaos in Ireland due to the high dependency on potatoes as a crop by the Irish. http://lutherburbank.org

The Stone Grandfather sculptures were used as boundary markers on Jeju Island in South Korea. The 250 cm statues were given to Santa Rosa by its sister city since 1996, Bukjeju of South Korea, in 2003. In South Korea, Dolhareubang statues like these are placed near village entrances and boundaries.

Very pretty lake in the middle of Annadel State Park, great for a swim on a hot day. Access is best from Lake Trail with a small beach on the north-west side.

Lake Ilsanjo is a hidden gem in Annadel State Park! There are lots of trails that take you up to the lake. It is also a great spot for a swim!

Lake Ilsanjo is a small quiet lake near the top of Canyon trail. A hidden gem for a break or a swim. It is much quieter than Santa Rosa Reservoir further downhill in neighboring Spring Lake Park, and has much cleaner water than the swimming lagoon in that park.

These statues, the Stone Grandfathers, were used as boundary markers on Jeju Island in South Korea. The 250 cm statues were given to Santa Rosa by the city of Bukjeju, South Korea in 2003. In South Korean, Dolhareubang statues like these are placed near village entrances and boundaries.  The "Stone Grandfathers" have wry smiles, hands on their bellies and are believed to ward off evil spirits, are hand-cut basalt figures. BACKGROUND • Santa Rosa and Bukjeju of South Korea have been sister cities since 1996. The purpose of the sister cities program is to increase international understanding and foster goodwill and world peace by furthering international communication and exchange at the person-to-person level through city-to-city affiliations. Such exchanges are achieved in a wide variety of cultural, educational, youth, sports, municipal, professional, and economic projects. • The Bukjeju Sister City Committee puts together two exchanges a year, one for the Fire Festival in February and one in the summer for student exchanges. On May 15, 2003, a delegation of Bukjeju County officials unveiled and dedicated two massive Jeju Dolhareubang (stone grandfathers), which now stand together in the grassy portion of Sonoma Avenue Park, facing Santa Rosa City Hall. The year 2006 marked the 10th anniversary of Santa Rosa’s sister city relationship with Bukjeju. Both cities have planned very special projects. Santa Rosa sent a group of Artstart students to paint a mural in Bukjeju in June, and art students from Bukjeju painted a mural in Santa Rosa. Bukjeju, South Korea, gave a basalt statue of “A Woman with Water Jar” as a gift to commemorate the 10 years of a wonderful relationship during Rose Parade on May 20, 2006, and unveiled the statue at 4th Street to replace an old, existing fountain. Costs for installation, including applicable permits, structural and engineering analyses, demolishing and removing existing sculpture, replacing/upgrading site plumbing, creation of new base or elevating current base, transportation and placement of the sculpture, are estimated to be between $15,000 and $30,000.