It's the season when water dances. From ripple to torrent, it's flowing through creeks, streams and ponds, between boulders and over cliffs as waterfalls, a gift from the rainy season. Mesmerized hikers set off in search of the sound.
But it's not just the rush of water we're after. It's also the way water transforms the landscape - the punch of green, the cut in solid rock, the wildflowers in bloom, the water life emerging, newts and salamanders scurrying about.
What follows are places to hike that are perfect for exploring pools or ribbons of water in their various forms.
Santa Rosa
The Santa Rosa Creek is so familiar as a local water feature that even people who live nearby forget to stop and really look at it.
Taking a closer look is easy when you walk the popular Santa Rosa Creek/Prince Memorial Greenway Trail, which runs west along the creek from downtown Santa Rosa.
You can walk the older stretch of the trail and stop at Fulton Road, take the foot underpass and keep going on the newer paved extension all the way out to Willowside Road.
Locals say they love the creek walk for the egrets and the turtles, and the coffee shop stop downtown or at Railroad Square.
Near downtown, you'll see some outdoor sculpture, and one walker says she likes the "behind-the-scenes-look" from the trail at buildings she usually sees only from the front.
North county
There is a pond in Shiloh Ranch Regional Park that is worth the trek. You just take the Creekside Trail, which begins at the parking lot, and hike a mile. Then you pick up the Pond Trail and voila! You get front-row viewing of a striking pond in a lush setting.
The spring is a peaceful time to explore and take in the green, from the ferns to the tufts of the trees, a mix of Douglas Fir, oak and evergreens. You can find solitude because there are no horses on the trail this time of year. Shiloh Ranch Regional Park, 5750 Faught Road, Windsor, 433-1625.
Another spot that appeals to water enthusiasts is the Healdsburg Ridge Open Space Preserve. The wetlands on 161 acres of Russian River Valley opened in November 2008 and is filled with wetlands, oak groves and hills as well as lovely Fox Pond and a handful of other smaller ones, unnamed.
Hiking is easy to moderate, about 2 to 3 miles, with an elevation of 150 feet, offering sweeping views beyond Fitch Mountain, the Russian River and the Mayacmas Mountains.
Here you hike alongside the wildlife - deer, rabbits, bobcats, mountain lions and more than 40 species of birds. Healdsburg Ridge Open Space Preserve is off Parkland Farms Boulevard at Arabian Way, Healdsburg. 431-3301.
Riverfront Regional Park, located at 7821 Eastside Road in Healdsburg, is a 305-acre county park adjacent to the Russian River. It's criss-crossed by several trails, including a flat, refreshing 2-mile loop around Lake Benoist, one of two pretty ponds created from reclaimed gravel pits. Bring a rod for fishing, a kayak for paddling, binoculars for bird-watching or a picnic to enjoy near the ponds or under the redwoods. The park is open from 8 a.m. to sunset. $6 per car for day use. Dogs are allowed on a short leash. For more information, call 565-2041.
And later this spring, Landpaths is planning to sponsor a backpack hiking trip to a private, 3-foot waterfall that gushes from a rock cleft at Cooley Ranch, just north of Lake Sonoma near the county border. For details, check landpaths.org.
West county
For a jaw-dropping view of the Russian River, hike from Willow Creek through Pomo Canyon - both Sonoma Coast State Parks - to the top of Red Hill, where you'll get a panoramic view of the coast and the river's mouth, swollen from winter rains.
According to Jonathan Glass, field programs director of Landpaths, you'll need to get a permit orientation in order to park at Willow Creek. (landpaths.org).
Entrance to Willow Creek is from Duncans Mills. From the Freezeout Flat parking area, head up the Islands in the Sky Trail, turn west on the Lower Barn Trail, then follow Willow Creek Road up to the Pomo Canyon Trail or Red Hill Trail to Red Hill, elevation 1,062 feet.
From there, you can either go all the way to the ocean at Shell Beach for some tidepooling (you'll want to drop off a car there) or head back to the parking lot on the side loop. It's about a 7-mile round-trip to Red Hill, through two watersheds.
Make sure you stop by Newt Pond along Islands in the Sky Trail and check overhead for osprey. Migrating steelhead come up Willow Creek and Freezeout Creek, looking for a place to lay their eggs.
If you don't have a Willow Creek permit, you can park on the road outside Pomo Canyon and hike up to Red Hill, or start at Shell Beach.
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