Monte Rio Redwoods Regional Park & Open Space Preserve - Background

In October 2020, Regional Parks acquired the Dutch Bill Creek property, the first acquisition to create Monte Rio Redwoods Regional Park and Open Space Preserve. This 515-acre parcel is located next to the unincorporated town of Monte Rio and within the Monte Rio Recreation & Park District boundary. Monte Rio Redwoods front both Main Street and Bohemian Highway located on either side of Dutch Bill Creek. Initial discussions with the former landowners, the Torrs, focused on a potential trail easement. Over time, those discussions transformed into a shared vision to protect the larger property as a regional park with a bikeway and connecting trails. During negotiations, all agreed that a regional park was a much better alternative than timber harvesting, and commercial and residential development that existing zoning allowed. 

In June 2025, Regional Parks acquired an additional 1,1517 acres from Save the Redwoods League, expanding Monte Rio Redwoods Regional Park and Open Space Preserve to 2,030 acres. The newly conserved property, once actively logged redwood forest, links thousands of acres of protected lands between Monte Rio and the Sonoma Coast. It features coast redwoods, salmon-bearing streams, and habitat critical for climate resilience. The land was immediately transferred to Regional Parks, with long-term stewardship supported by a conservation easement and recreation covenant held by Sonoma County Ag + Open Space. Sonoma Land Trust and other partners helped secure funding and ensure permanent protection of the forest for future public access.

The Property

Monte Rio Redwoods Regional Park and Open Space Preserve offers exciting recreation and preservation opportunities. Its dramatic topography includes elevations from 8 to 1,453 feet, with sweeping vistas, ridgelines and a mosaic of iconic California Coast Range habitats, including mature redwood forests, montane hardwood, Douglas-fir forests, coastal oak woodland, riparian forest, coastal scrub, serpentine chaparral, mixed chaparral and closed-cone pine-cypress. The majority of the property is redwood forest.

The park plays an important role in protecting the environment for the Monte Rio community and the lower Russian River, preserving important watersheds, including more than 3.7 miles of stream channels, including the headwaters and mainstem of Dutch Bill Creek – a tributary of the Russian River – as well as Freezeout and Willow creeks. Dutch Bill Creek starts in the hills near Occidental and flows north to meet the Russian River in Monte Rio, with a quarter stretch running through the park.

These waterways provide critical spawning and rearing habitat for endangered coho salmon and steelhead trout. For nearly two decades, the Dutch Bill Creek watershed has been the site of intensive efforts to enhance habitat for endangered fish species and restore watershed processes. Extensive work has been undertaken to improve fish passage and enhance habitat within the creek, with additional projects planned for the future.

The property is home to numerous rare and protected species including northern spotted owl, osprey, Sonoma tree vole, foothill yellow-legged frog, California giant salamander, and northwestern pond turtle.

 It shares a border with Sonoma Coast State Parks to the west, linking a contiguous conserved area of more than 22,000 acres (more than 34 square miles) of forest, wildlife corridors and watershed, from the Bohemian Highway to the Sonoma Coast and north to Jenner Headlands. 

Existing dirt roads and informal trails offer a foundation for future trail development, with routes ranging from gentle creekside paths to strenuous ridge climbs. The park offers sweeping vistas glimpsed through redwood canopies and the chance to explore one of the most ecologically diverse landscapes in the region. With careful planning, the park presents a unique opportunity to balance low-impact public recreation with habitat protection and watershed restoration.

Project Funding

In 2020, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors gave Regional Parks approval to purchase the Torr property for $3.9 million.

Funding sources include:

Sonoma County Agriculture Preservation and Open Space District (Ag + Open Space) - $2.1 million and additional $250,000 for development of initial public access and land management

State Parks from its Land and Water Conservation Fund - $954,028

State Coastal Conservancy - $500,000

Measure M (the local parks sales tax measure voters passed in 2018) - $300,000

Park Mitigation Fees - $45,972 

The 2025 expansion added 1,517 acres to the park and preserve through a $24 million purchase led by Save the Redwoods League with funding from:

Sonoma County Ag + Open Space – Contributing up to $8 million to the purchase and conservation easement and recreational covenant

Sonoma Land Trust – $2 million

Wildlife Conservation Board - $8 million

Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation - $4 million

Supporting Documents

Conservation Easement West (PDF: 465  kB)