Sonoma County Highpoint Trip Report
Cobb Mountain - west rim (4,480+ feet)
Date: September 5, 2011
Authors: Walt and Lois Vennum
Driving Directions: From the stop light in Middletown (there's only one!)
at the intersection of Highways 29 and 175 go west on Highway 175 for 7.4
miles to Maple Shadows Road in the small hamlet of Whispering Pines.
Go west on Maple Shadows for 0.3 mile to Brookside Drive. Go left on
Brookside and after 0.1 mile go left at a fork onto Pinewood Way.
After 0.2 mile on Pinewood park in a pullout on the right 50 yards
before a locked gate.
The "No Trespassing" sign on the gate was covered when we arrived.
It would be far less conspicuous to park at the Brookside-Pinewood
intersection although no one hassled us.
Hiking Directions: Walk up the road/track behind the gate for 1:20-1:30
until the towers on the east summit of Cobb Mountain come into view.
The road you are following passes immediately south of the towers and very
shortly intersects a well maintained dirt road. Follow this dirt road 5
minutes to a fork. Walk along the left fork for 5 more minutes to the
towers on top of the main summit of Cobb Mountain. The Sonoma County
high point is a 45-60 minute round trip hike from here. Follow the road
around the right side of the fenced enclosure containing the towers for
2-3 minutes to a fork. Take the left fork and follow it 0.5 mile as it
descends south and west (steeply at times) about 350 feet to an
inconspicuous saddle. The lower part of this road and the saddle are
thickly overgrown with chest high manzanita. The saddle is marked by a
huge pile of old weathered brush/slash. We walked up the hill directly
behind the center of the brush pile without difficulty. The summit
register is in a glass jar propped up against a small stump by several
rocks in an oblong-shaped open area about 10 yards by 15 yards in size.
Take bug dope with you: we were surrounded by clouds of small, obnoxious,
black gnats most of the day. Without the Whispering Pines topo map it is
doubtful if we would have found the county high point. This hike has an
estimated round trip distance of 5 miles and involves about 2500 feet of
elevation gain. We are both in our late 60s and did the hike under 4
hours easily on a hot day. Although much of the route is shaded,
we would not recommend doing it during summer or early fall because
of the heat. There is no water available anywhere on this route.