Wilder Ranch State Park
Managed by California Department of Parks and Recreation
895 acres6.3 mi of trail
Barking DogsUpper Barking DogsJugsDog Connector+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Bonny Doon
34% of Bonny Doon’s land is conserved: 3,619 acres
1,673 acres are parks and preserves, 531 per 1,000 residents. 22 miles of mapped trail cross Bonny Doon, 1.4 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Wilder Ranch State Park (6.3 mi), Bonny Doon Ecological Reserve (3.8 mi), San Vicente Redwoods (1.2 mi).
Ahead of 96% of U.S. towns · #84 of 847 in California. What drives it
Conserved land
34%
3,619 acres · of 16.6 sq mi of land
Trails
22 mi
1.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,673 ac
531 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
76%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
1,296 ft
Bald Mountain
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Bonny Doon?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Bonny Doon have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Bonny Doon is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns, #84 of 847 in California. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; conserved land ranks highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Bonny Doon’s overall grade.
Conserved land34% of the land · typical CA town 4% · U.S. 4%A+Trails1.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (22 mi) · CA 0.9 · U.S. 0.4APark land531 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,673 acres) · CA 5 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home76% of residents within a half mile of a park · CA 91% · U.S. 72%B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 96%
LessMore
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 90%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Wilder Ranch State Park, with 6.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Bonny Doon Ecological Reserve
Managed by California Department of Fish and Wildlife
380 acres3.8 mi of trail
Silver Leaf LoopWallflower LoopPonderosa Cutoff
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
San Vicente Redwoods
Managed by Living Landscape Initiative Partners
801 acres1.2 mi of trail
Silver Leaf Loop
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Cotoni-Coast Dairies Unit, California Coastal National Monument
Managed by Bureau of Land Management
325 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
3,619 conserved acres
34% of Bonny Doon’s land. Who manages Bonny Doon’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits1,616 ac
State parks1,053 ac
County641 ac
State fish & wildlife536 ac
Bureau of Land Management304 ac
Town or city261 ac
State Park · 1,053 acConservation Easement · 999 acPrivate Conservation · 817 acState Conservation Area · 536 acUnknown Easement · 440 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 648 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wilder Ranch State Park State Park | State parks | 884 | Open |
| Bonny Doon Ecological Reserve State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 536 | Open |
| San Vicente Redwoods (CEMEX) Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 445 | Closed |
| Big Basin Cemex Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 372 | Closed |
| Central Coast Field Office National Public Lands | Bureau of Land Management | 304 | Open |
| City Open Space Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 261 | Restricted |
| Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park State Park | State parks | 169 | Open |
Things to do
13 places to go in Bonny Doon
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Bonny Doon
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Bonny Doon
Bald Mountain1,296 ft elevation
DirectionsPlus 11 peaks without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
10 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 4.3 miUnpaved · 9.4 mi
Silver Leaf Loop2.6 mi
Barking Dogs2.1 mi
Upper Barking Dogs1.3 mi
Wallflower Loop0.6 mi
Wook0.5 mi
Ponderosa Cutoff0.5 mi
Jugs0.4 mi
Sour Milk0.3 mi
Dog Connector0.2 mi
Bridgerton0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
3Tennis
1Equestrian
1Basketball
1Beach volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Bonny Doon: May to August
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.9 | 10.8 | 11.9 | 13.1 | 14.1 | 14.7 | 14.5 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.2 | 10.1 | 9.6 |
| High (°F) | 58 | 58 | 61 | 64 | 68 | 74 | 78 | 79 | 79 | 73 | 64 | 58 |
| Rain (in) | 7.7 | 7.5 | 5.9 | 2.7 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 3.9 | 7.7 |
July is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and August the warmest (highs of 79 °F). 7.7 inches fall in January, the wettest month. The climate in Bonny Doon →
Next door
Bonny Doon and its neighbors
Bonny Doon has the most mapped trails of the 3 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonny Doon | 34% | 1.4 | 531 | 76% | A+ |
| Felton | 15% | 1.9 | 160 | 99% | A+ |
| Ben Lomond | 24% | 2.4 | 148 | 98% | A+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Bonny Doon
Where can I hike in Bonny Doon?
The longest trail networks: Wilder Ranch State Park, 6.3 miles; Bonny Doon Ecological Reserve, 3.8 miles; San Vicente Redwoods, 1.2 miles; Cotoni-Coast Dairies Unit, California Coastal National Monument, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Bonny Doon is conserved land?
34% of its land, against a typical 4% for a California town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Bonny Doon’s trails?
Wilder Ranch State Park and Bonny Doon Ecological Reserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Bonny Doon?
50,504 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Bonny Doon or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,673 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Bonny Doon have?
Ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #84 of 847 in California. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Bonny Doon neighbors.
Share a tip
Sources
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →