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Hood Mountain & Gunsight Rock

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Distance:
6.8 Miles / 10.9 km
Type:
Out-and-Back
Difficulty:
Hard
Time to Hike:
3 hours, ~24 minutes
Features:
Surface Type:
Semi-Paved
Park:
Hood Mountain Regional Park
Town:
Santa Rosa, California
Directions:
38.451822, -122.574139
Added:
February 17, 2017
Updated:
February 11, 2020
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1,869'

Total Change
2,352'

Ascent
2,330'

Descent

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Hood Mountain & Gunsight Rock

The Hood Mountain & Gunsight Rock hike at the Hood Mountain Regional Park in Santa Rosa, California is a difficult 6.8-mile out-and-back trail that leads to the peak of Hood Mountain and the lookout point, Gunsight Rock.

This hike starts out by following the Lower Johnson Ridge Trail. The trail crosses and follows the paved road for short distances - hikers can easily follow the signs for the Lower Johnson Ridge Trail to continue along the proper path.

There are plenty of trail junctions along the way, but hikers should be on the lookout for signs pointing the way to the Hood Mountain summit. This hike eventually reaches the Panoramic Ranch Trail, which leads to the Hood Mountain Trail. Once on the Hood Mountain Trail, hikers will head south toward the Hood Mountain summit.

At Hood Mountain summit, there are no views, but not too far down the trail is Gunsight Rock, which is the main destination of this hike. Hikers can follow signs for Gunsight Rock to find their way, but it's only about 0.4-miles one-way from the Hood Mountain summit.

At Gunsight Rock hikers will find beautiful views and two tall rocks that overlook the valley. The vista point gives hikers views of San Francisco Bay to the left and Santa Rosa to the right.

Heading back down the mountain, hikers can choose to hike the same way out; however, this recording takes a small detour. The hike down takes a left-hand turn where the Pond Trail meets the Panoramic Ranch Trail at the three-way junction. This route will bring hikers past the Blue Heron Pond, Merganser Pond, and another vista point.

After reaching the junction with the Lower Johnson Ridge Trail, hikers will take this trail back to parking to complete the hike for a 6.8-mile trek.

Parking
The coordinates provided will bring hikers to the Pythian Road trailhead.

Fee
There is a small parking fee collected to support maintaining the park.

Pets
Dogs are allowed if leashed and their waste must be carried out by the hiker.

For more details, check out the Norcalhiker blog post on this trip.
Explore 6 trails near Santa Rosa, CA
  1. Parking

    38.451822, -122.574139
  2. Main Trailhead

    38.451977, -122.574246
  3. Gunsight Rock vista

    38.456424, -122.556755
    Gunsight Rock vista
  4. Vista point

    38.45598, -122.569153
    Vista point
  5. Hood Mountain summit

    38.459983, -122.553573
    Hood Mountain summit
No community routes found. To add your own hike as a Community Route for this Trail guide, leave a Trip Report with an attached GPX file.

Hazards

Ticks - Lyme Disease More Info (CDC)

Season

Spring

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Trail Guide By:
Norcalhiker user profile picture
6.8 miles / 10.9 km

Weather Forecast

In Santa Rosa, CA

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