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Kite Hill
Bald Hill Ridge
Preserve
Hawthorne Canyon
Sorich Park
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Projects
 Sorich
Park
In the 1960s the Town of San Anselmo acquired the approximate
60 acres at the end of San Francisco Boulevard. Rumor has it
that the name "Sorich Park" was based on the dairy
farm that occupied the land at one point. People thought the
milk was "so rich" that the new name seemed appropriate.
Unfortunately, the park was largely neglected and used as a
storage and dumping area for debris after major storms and for
construction materials. Around 1990 the Open Space Committee,
with the support of some of the neighbors, took the initiative
to turn it into a real park that could be enjoyed by everyone.
The Committee helped plant native oaks and convinced the Marin
County Open Space District to install a new trail connecting
San Anselmo to the Mt. Tam Cemetery and the Terra Linda divide.
The next step involved the development of a Master Plan for
the Park to preserve its open space quality. With the assistance
of Tom Murphy, a landscape architecture graduate student from
UC Berkeley, the plan was prepared and eventually approved by
the Town Council. This enabled the Committee to seek and receive
a matching grant for $20,000 from the State of California. For
every dollar and volunteer hour the Town invested in the Park,
the State agreed to match that amount. Improvements have included
native plants and trees, a drinking fountain, new picnic tables,
a new arbor, as well as drainage improvements. In addition,
the parking area was relocated away from the central feature
of the park, a fabulous rock outcropping. Subsequently, the
Committee applied for and received another $5,000 grant from
the Marin Community Foundation and a $5,000 grant from the Longs
Foundation.
With the cooperation of the Town's Parks Department and other
volunteer groups, the result has been a quiet, beautiful open
space park. Sorich Park will be an ongoing process that will
result in future improvements for the enjoyment of everyone
in San Anselmo. The fate of nearby private lands will be critical
to the long term success of this wonderful open space.
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