Stephen Nett

If you drive out Highway 1 north of Bodega Bay along the winding coastline, and cross the bridge above the Russian River, about five minutes north of Jenner you’ll spot a neatly engineered and spacious new paved parking lot cut into a grass-covered hillside, just above the road.

This is the trailhead for the newly opened Jenner Headlands Preserve, which stretches far above and right and left. It’s wildly scenic. But that’s not why you should come, and it’s not the reason the preserve should be on your short list of California wonders.

Heading out for sun, fun and nature? Remember, we share Sonoma County's parks with wildlife, and one of the local residents active this time of year, the rattlesnake, has a formidable bite.

While it’s rare for a human to suffer a rattlesnake bite, and extremely rare for a human to die from a bite, here are some rattlesnake facts to help you stay safe on the trail.

A good trail is like a comfortable pair of shoes: It feels welcoming and pleasing under foot and takes you confidently to a favorite destination and back. But today’s trails provide more than simple transportation. One of their roles is to open portals for the public into nature and protected wildlands. The only way most of us will ever experience a mountain pond or glimpse a bobcat is because a park trail brought us there.

Sonoma County’s Regional Parks have a wide selection of trails to choose from. But making a good trail takes a lot more than meets the eye.

Visitors and locals looking for an easy but stunning coastal walk will find happiness on the Kortum Trail, a largely level, blufftop four-mile round trip, winding high above the Pacific surf. With abundant wildlife, rugged coastline, big skies and long vistas, it’s a great outdoors experience year-round. Hidden in plain sight along the trail are several amazing wonders, secrets to all but a few. Here’s five to spot.

From the boat ramp at Hudeman Slough near Skaggs Island on the southeastern tip of Sonoma County, it’s about a three-hour drive to the sandy beach at Gualala Point, up on the northern county line.

But it still took Justin Borton, a local trail runner and park enthusiast, 55 days to make the trip — mainly because he stopped along the way at every one of the parks, beaches, campgrounds, and properties in the Sonoma Regional Parks system, 55 in all.

His marathon park-a-day odyssey, just completed in mid-September, was launched with a commitment to raise public awareness.