Project Background

On July 7, 2020, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors accepted a Quitclaim Deed conveying the fee title under a two-mile long County-held highway easement. This northernmost stretch of Geysers Road can now allow the improvement of public access to the Russian River. The highway easement extends down to the Russian River at a couple of locations, including approximately two thirds of a mile of river shoreline.

The public has enjoyed these popular river access points for many years, but the lack of ownership has limited the County’s ability to develop safe and sanitary public access facilities and to manage the public access. By accepting the Quitclaim Deed, the County now has the right to provide the north county with a new 19.1-acre river access park.

In April of 2020, Regional Parks was awarded a grant in the amount of $1,125,000.00 from the California Natural Resources Agency. Sonoma County Regional Parks has completed the process of developing a master plan for the site using this funding and park mitigation fees. 

The Russian River Parkway project is funded by several sources. These include $50,000 from District 4 Community Infrastructure, $548,000 from Parks Measure M Category 3, $165,000 from Park Mitigation Area 2 Fees, and $1,125,000 from State Parks Natural Resources Agency Proposition 68 Grant funding.