About the Reserve
The 7.5 acre Hidden Forest has been a nursery and botanical sanctuary for nearly 60 years. It is a few miles southeast of downtown Sebastopol, located on Azalea Lane, so named because the first entity on the lane was an azalea nursery and garden.
It was named Sonoma Horticultural Nursery & Garden in the late 1970’s, and recently renamed Hidden Forest Nursery and Botanical Reserve. It is a rich and diverse forest garden with an outstanding collection of rare and stunningly beautiful trees and shrubs. The forest includes native redwoods and oaks, the largest grove of Dawn Redwoods west of the Mississippi, and Sonoma County’s Heritage Tree #20 - the Sonoma Dove Tree. A superb collection of rhododendrons, magnolias, and camellias, many of which were developed here, grace the forest. The property includes nearly two miles of winding trails, a boardwalk over a unique wetland with cypress knees, and an outdoor space where nature-related classes and workshops can be held. Blucher Creek traverses the property, making it a riparian, biotic habitat that provides home to much wildlife: mammals such as bear, mountain lion, bobcat, river otter, mink, and foxes; birds such as nesting great horned owls and red shouldered hawks, and insect such as the exclamation damselfly and dragonflies. Many fungi and licken are also found throughout.
There is also a nursery in the forest that offers an amazing variety of shade-loving trees, shrubs, vines, and perennials, including rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, Japanese maples, dogwoods, daphnes, ferns and other hard-to-find plants. The Hidden Forest Nursery sells long-lived edible plants that would provide you with food, tea, herbs, or medicine. Imagine having a mini garden of Eden in your own backyard!
In order to keep the reserve open to the public, change is afoot!
Key visionaries have come together to establish Friends of the Hidden Forest, a 501c3 not-for-profit organization. For more information about Friends of the Hidden Forest and their plan for keeping the reserve open to the public, click the link below.
The Story of the Owls
Shortly after Mike acquired the property, a bunch of community leaders formed an informal group to support Mike’s stewardship of the forest. At the end of our first meeting in the forest, by our newly planted Silver Tree Fern, 5 great horned owls encircled us in the trees above and hooted their approval or our gathering. The group became known as The Owls. Visitors to the forest often hear or see owls to this day.
