About LandPaths

LandPaths is an environmental education and conservation leader with the mission 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, nature camps, and people-powered land stewardship of local open spaces.

Learn More about the 2025 Harvest Festival at Bayer Farm 

Land Acknowledgement

Our community gardens, office, and preserves throughout Sonoma County are located on the ancestral homelands of the Pomo, Coast Miwok, Kashia Band of Pomo Indians, Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians, and the Wappo people, past, present, and future. We recognize them as the First Peoples and the First Stewards of this land.

 

Initiatives

Rooting Youth in Nature

LandPaths significantly reduces the barriers and expands opportunities to get outside so that more youth are able to experience wonder, joy, awe, belonging, and connection in nature.

Branching Out Conservation for Everyone

LandPaths expands the amount of people in Sonoma County who benefit from healthy land, understand the value of nature, and cultivate a sense of wanting to care for the land that gives so much back to us.

Community Care

Growing Community with Nature

Wildfires, flooding, and other challenges have dramatically increased globally and locally because of human-caused climate change. Reciprocal and joyful relationships between people and the land is a solution to climate disruption. From volunteer land stewardship days to community gatherings in local open spaces, you’ll find a range of creative, impactful opportunities to participate with LandPaths and make a difference.

Featured Outings

Lafferty Hike with Guided Meditation

  • Day: Saturday, August 30
  • Time: 9am – 11:30am
  • Place: Lafferty Ranch, Petaluma
  • Cost: Free!

 

Come join us at Lafferty Ranch on Sonoma Mountain for a morning hike and guided meditation. Docents Brian Fingado, Bruce Schneider, and Joy Robinson will take you on a hike through oak woodlands and grass meadows on paths that gently hug Adobe Creek. We will stop under a large oak to take in views and be guided in meditation by Bruce. This is a family friendly event!

Sign Up

Basics of Outdoor Photography at Bohemia Ecological Preserve

  • Day: Saturday, September 6
  • Time: 4pm – 7pm
  • Place: Bohemia Ecological Preserve, Occidental

Join volunteer docents Carl, Paloma and Tracy for a photo exploration of the beautiful Bohemia Ecological Preserve! We’ll hike on trails through native coastal prairies and mixed conifer forests while covering the basics of outdoor photography using your smart phone, pocket camera, or DLSR. On this family-friendly hike, we will explore the beauty of the preserve and engage all five senses to identify wildflowers, marvel at the fullness of the creek, and listen and look for birds and other wildlife. At the end of the hike we’ll send a link to upload and share your favorite pictures from the day!

SIGN UP

Self-Guided Adventure ~ Autoexploración @ Rancho Mark West

  • Day: Sunday, September 7
  • Time: 9am – 2pm
  • Place: Rancho Mark West, Santa Rosa 

Join LandPaths and our partner at Sonoma County Ag + Open Space for a free, self-guided adventure at Rancho Mark West. The first Saturday and Sunday of the month, Rancho Mark West will be open to the public from 9am to 2pm, please arrive by 2pm latest and return to your cars by no later than 3:30pm. Explore the trails that meander through a redwood forest and picnic along the pristine Mark West Creek as it flows towards the Laguna de Santa Rosa.
This is a self guided tour, but registration is required to attend. 

Sign Up

Volunteer Forestry Stewardship Day at Riddell Preserve

  • Day: Thursday, September 11
  • Time: 9am – 1pm
  • Place: Riddell Preserve, Healdsburg

Please join LandPaths and theHealdsburg Rotary Club for light forestry, removal of “plants out of place,” and burn unit prep at Riddell Preserve!  This 400-acre preserve above Healdsburg’s Dry Creek Valley teems with madrones, redwoods, bays, native wildflowers and other plants, birds, and so much more! Together, we can steward the land to help it be resilient in the face of the impacts of climate change, especially wildfire. Plus, it’s fun to get outside with like-minded people, giving back to the land that gives so much to us.

SIGN UP

Stories + News

Stories of Impact

A Heartwarming and Powerful Safe Space in Nature for LGBTQ+ Youth and Allies

July 24, 2025

Tags:

It’s the fourth day of Camp Trillium at LandPaths’ Bohemia Ecological Preserve in Sonoma County, California and the sun is shining in a clear, blue sky. Camp Trillium was […]

A photo of a prescribed burn at the Grove of Old Trees. Redwoods are engulged in smoke and orange flames are under the trees but not out of control.

Why Do We Conduct Prescribed Burns at our Sonoma County Preserves?

May 29, 2025

Tags: ,

Reflections from Jim & Betty Doerksen, Land Partners at Rancho Mark West

February 14, 2025

Tags: , , , ,

Jim and Betty Doerksen purchased Rancho Mark West in 1967. The Doerksens have worked tirelessly, planting upwards of “one million trees,” according to Jim. They also started […]

Scroll to Top