State officials intend to re-open Sugarloaf Ridge State Park on a limited basis Friday, a surprise given concerns that the park could remain closed indefinitely because of budget cuts.
The 4,000-acre park east of Kenwood was shut down in early December for the first time in its 48-year history. State and local parks officials said the park might not re-open because of budget problems enveloping California's beleaguered parks system.
But for reasons that officials said include problems with people parking outside the park's closed gates and clogging the narrow road that leads to Sugarloaf, the decision was made to re-open on Friday, albeit for day-use only.
"It's still not a perfect situation. We still have very few staff to be able to make these accommodations, but in the interest of the community, we wanted to make it happen," said Danita Rodriguez, acting district superintendent for the Diablo Vista district of California State Parks.
The change underscores the challenges of trying to shut a state park to the public. At Sugarloaf, a safety hazard has been created with people parking outside the gates and along the shoulders of narrow Adobe Canyon Road. The park also has lost revenue from not collecting parking fees, Rodriguez said.
There also have been problems with people dumping trash inside the park and letting their dogs run off-leash, she said.
But Rodriguez insisted that those problems were not the only reasons why she made the decision to re-open Sugarloaf sooner than expected. She cited as other factors the return of staff members who had taken time off, the addition of more volunteers and being able to shift resources from other locations.
She said the park's restrooms will be cleaned on a regular basis and that volunteers will patrol the trails. She hasn't decided yet whether to re-open the visitor's center.
The move to re-open Sugarloaf was lauded by park advocates.
"It will keep the park safer by having people in there," said Richard Dale, the executive director of the Sonoma Ecology Center, which is leading an effort to take over operations at Sugarloaf in order to keep it open.
The state is planning to close 67 of California's 278 parks by July 1 to save $11 million this fiscal year and $22 million in succeeding years. The list originally included 70 parks, but the National Park Service has agreed to operate three parks, including Tomales and Samuel P. Taylor state parks in Marin County.
In Sonoma County, state parks slated for closure include Annadel State Park in Santa Rosa, Jack London State Historic Park in Glen Ellen and Petaluma Abobe State Historic Park. A total of 16 parks on the North Coast are on the closure list.
Sugarloaf will re-open at 10 a.m. on Friday. The parking fee of $8 can be paid by check or cash at the self-registration kiosk.
Regular day use hours are 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. in the paid day use area, and 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the lower parking lots. The Goodspeed trailhead parking lot also will re-open for day use parking.
Campgrounds remain closed for the winter. Rodriguez said she did not know whether those sites will re-open as usual in the spring.
UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: