Lafferty and Lucchessi from the air: A comparison

By Bruce Hagen, July 19, 2002

NOTE: The violet caption above
reads, "Handicapped access trail
to valley overlook point"

These two photos were gathered from www.mapquest.com. They are both at the same magnification, and thus represent an accurate comparison of the properties. When you compare on a strictly acre for acre basis:

  • Lafferty Park is nearly ten times the size of Luchessi Park, which is the City's largest improved park.
  • If you placed the Lafferty gate at the western corner of Lucchessi, Lafferty's eastern (ridgetop) boundary would reach all the way to Prince Park.
  • Lafferty's lower meadows, ranging from level to gently rolling slopes, are at least equal in acreage to the 20 acres of turf at Lucchessi. Much of it is ideal for informal picnicing (of the blanket and basket variety.)
  • The park plan includes a half-mile handicapped accessible trail from the parking lot, around a marsh and pond, along an oak woodland, past the stone corral of the old Marshall Lafferty homestead, out to a point with a sweeping view of the Petaluma Valley and the North Bay.
  • The majority of the acreage at Lafferty is gently sloped enough that trails could go straight up the slope. With the exception of the escarpment at places along Adobe Creek, there are no areas that are too steep to be traversed by simple switchback trails.
  • The upper third of Lafferty is a series of broad terraces stepping up to the top of the park, from which you can see from the Pacific to the Santa Clara Valley to Mt Diablo. People from ages 8 to 80 have had no trouble making it to the top, even with the presently unfinished trails.

What you can begin to see from these photos (and what would be confirmed by a visit to Lafferty Park) is that Lafferty is not, as a recent letter to the editor stated, a place that will serve "only a few wilderness hikers." Anyone who makes statements like these has either not been to Lafferty or is part of the disinformation campaign of Lafferty Park opponents.

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