Sonoma County Parks to Reopen with Restrictions Wednesday April 29th

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In the first easing of strict shelter-in-place restrictions, Sonoma County will join other nearby counties and reopen most parks to restricted access for neighborhood residents on Wednesday.

The new rules amend the park closure orders issued March 23rd by allowing county residents to walk or bicycle to nearby parks for walking, hiking, jogging and biking activities. Driving to parks is not being permitted, and parking lots as well as all coastal parks will remain closed for now.

The county health officer says some restrictions are being maintained in order to limit crowds and insure that proper social distancing takes place. Besides allowing only walking or bicycling to a park, the order will maintain the closure of all high touch equipment and gathering spots, including picnic areas, grills, drinking fountains, playgrounds, dog parks and others such areas.

The amended park order also requires park visitors to maintain 6 foot social distancing, and the wearing of facial coverings when the 6 foot distancing cannot reasonably be maintained.

The order also keeps golf courses, tennis courts, bocce ball courts, sports fields, climbing walls, pools, spas and other shared facilities closed. However it does allow places like golf courses to be used for hiking, if allowed by the operators.

The amended park order allows the county health officer to once again order lockdowns to some or all parks if overcrowding or problems maintaining social distancing are observed.