About 50 people stood in the rain on October 22 to open a gravel parking lot. According to the Napa Valley Register, the group gathered along North Kelly Road in the hills near Jameson Canyon. It included Napa County Regional Park and Open Space District board member Barry Christian and County Supervisor Belia Ramos. "This is eight minutes from my house," Ramos told the paper.
The lot is the new southern entrance to Suscol Headwaters Park. The district's dedication announcement says that on the same day it dedicated five miles of Bay Area Ridge Trail leading into the south end of the park. The entrance opened to the public on Saturday, October 24.
The new entrance changes how the park works. For six years, Suscol Headwaters was the far end of a Skyline hike, a reward for the long walk in. From North Kelly Road, the long views come within the first stretch of climbing, and the main park sits at the far end of the trail.
Six years of reaching Suscol through Skyline's back gate
Suscol Headwaters opened in 2020. Until last month, the only way in was to start at Skyline Wilderness Park on Imola Avenue. When the park first opened, the Register reported that the approach from Skyline ran about four miles. That made the trip to the vista and back an eight-mile day. The Skyline route still works. You go through a gate on the Napa Solano Ridge Trail at the top of Skyline.
The land behind that gate covers 709 acres, bought in two pieces. The Open Space District paid $900,000 for the first 411 acres in 2015 and $2.6 million for the other 298 acres in 2017. The Register reports that the second purchase cost more because parts of the land had vineyard approvals. Some of the money came from Caltrans, which had to make up for red-legged frog habitat lost when Highway 12 was widened to four lanes through Jameson Canyon between Napa and Cordelia.
The highway widening helped pay for the park, and the new entrance now sits a few minutes from that same corridor.
The new entrance is closer to American Canyon than to downtown Napa
Christian measured the new lot's location for the Register: 3.4 miles from American Canyon city hall and 7.3 miles from Napa city hall. "And therefore, it will serve the two most populous cities in Napa County," he said.
Under the old setup, an American Canyon hiker headed for Suscol drove north to Imola Avenue and then walked south again through Skyline. The North Kelly Road lot sits on the side of the park facing American Canyon and south Napa.
The district started this project years ago. In 2022, it announced a $1.2 million grant from the California Department of Parks and Recreation, paid for by Proposition 68. The grant covered 14 miles of multi-use trails across the park plus a more accessible parking lot.
What the first mile gets you now
According to the district's Suscol Headwaters Park page, the trail from North Kelly Road starts with a short walk up a service road, then climbs the ridge. The access trail runs about 3.5 miles before it enters the main part of the park. The district also says the climb gives you views over southern Napa County right away. The Register describes those views as the Napa-Sonoma wetlands, San Pablo Bay and beyond, with no need to go deep into the hills to see them.
This is the biggest practical change. From Skyline, the views over the bay were the payoff at the end of a long approach. From North Kelly Road, they come early, so a shorter out-and-back on the ridge is a full outing. Hikers who want the main park can keep going, but they no longer have to.
Two entrances, one park
The district says trail rules and the day-use parking fee are the same at both entrances. Most of the practical differences are in hours, water and how far you walk before reaching the park.
| North Kelly Road entrance | Skyline Wilderness Park entrance | |
|---|---|---|
| Where you start | Unpaved lot at 1700 North Kelly Rd, Napa | Skyline Wilderness Park off Imola Avenue |
| Hours | Sunrise to sunset | 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. fall and winter, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. spring and summer |
| Vehicle fee | $6 per car; Skyline annual passes accepted on the dashboard | $6 per car at the main lot |
| Walking or biking in | No separate fee listed | $3 to walk in, $3 to bike in at the main and River to Ridge entrances |
| Restrooms | Portable restroom, ADA parking | Restrooms, ADA parking |
| Drinking water | None | Available |
| Route to Suscol | About 3.5 miles of access trail to the main part of the park | Through a gate on the Napa Solano Ridge Trail at the top of Skyline |
Two rows matter most in November. Skyline closes at 5 p.m. through fall and winter, while the North Kelly lot follows daylight. And the new lot has no drinking water, so bring your own from home. The district calls the Skyline route a "lengthy round-trip hike" and asks visitors to carry water and check a map before setting out.
The longer days: 11 miles of ridge and the named trails
Hikers who want the whole ridge now have a through route. "This trail extends 11 miles to Skyline Wilderness Park," Kirsten Tobey, executive director of the Ridge Trail, told the Napa Valley Register. With two entrances, an 11-mile one-way trip between North Kelly Road and Imola Avenue works if you leave a car at each end.
Somewhere along that route is the park's highest point, about 1,500 feet above sea level. The Register reports that from the top you can see the Bay Area in one direction and parts of the Central Valley in the other. The district's updated trail map, revised October 24, marks spot elevations of 1,510 and 1,037 feet.
The same map names the trails inside the park:
- Suscol Ridge Trail, the main trail through the park
- Chance the Cowboy Trail
- Zane Trail
- Buckaroo Trail
- Lookout Trail
- Perdita Trail
- Little Bend Trail
- Big Bend Trail
If you did the Open Space District's spring trails challenge, you may already know some of these. The 2026 Spring Trails Challenge guide describes a 7.26-mile Little Bend loop with 669 feet of elevation gain. It follows Suscol Ridge, Perdita, Big Bend, Little Bend, Chance the Cowboy and the Suscol Spur, with a creek crossing and a wooded section along the way. That loop starts from Skyline, and its mileage was measured from that side. Starting from North Kelly Road adds the access trail in both directions.
The district's park page also describes Suscol Creek and other creekside habitat inside the park.
Before the first trip
Some of the rules here surprise people coming from other open space. The district lists hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding and wildlife viewing as the park's uses, and all trails are multi-use, so expect to share them with bikes and horses.
- Dogs aren't allowed on the trails. That applies whichever entrance you use.
- Stay on official trails and district land. The park borders private property. The district asks visitors to watch for boundary signs, stay off unofficial side trails and avoid creating new ones. Hunting and shooting are prohibited.
- Display your pass. Skyline annual passes are accepted at North Kelly Road but must be shown on the dashboard.
- Check the status page before you go. The district's park and trail status page, updated October 30, lists the new southern Suscol lot as open and says any park not listed is open for normal use. As the rainy season starts, that page is the quickest way to confirm the trails are open on the day you plan to go.
Standing in the rain at the opening, Ramos described the purpose this way, as reported by the Napa Valley Register:
"At the end of the day, we all do this so people can enjoy the outdoors, so that people can make sure that they see the beauty of where they live."
The Loney and Worley Team follows changes like this across south Napa County and the Jameson Canyon corridor, from new trailheads to the open space next to homes. If you own near North Kelly Road, Imola Avenue or American Canyon and want to know how your home is valued today, ask us for a free home valuation.
