In fall and winter, Skyline Wilderness Park in Napa opens at 7 a.m. and closes at 5 p.m. Since Suscol Headwaters Park opened to the public in 2020, the gate at the top of Skyline was the only way into it. That limited how much of the park a hiker could reach on a short November day.
On Saturday, October 24, a second entrance opened at 1700 North Kelly Rd in Napa. The new lot is open from sunrise to sunset. The difference shows up in winter. The Skyline gate closes at 5 p.m., and the North Kelly lot stays open until dark.
A Park That Started as Skyline's Back Forty
The Napa County Regional Park and Open Space District bought the 709 acres of Suscol Headwaters between 2015 and 2017. The land sits just south of Skyline Wilderness Park, which has more than 25 miles of trail. The seller was Suscol Mountain Vineyards, the Napa Valley Register reported when the preserve was being set up. In its 2020 coverage of the park's opening, the Register put the total price at $3.5 million, paid in two phases, one in 2015 and the other in 2017.
The same 2020 Register article put the hike from Skyline's parking lot to the Suscol lookout at about four miles each way. That made it an eight-mile round trip. The paper said the lookout had views of Mount Tamalpais, Mount St. Helena, San Francisco and the Central Valley.
For six years, that was the only way in. Getting to Suscol took most of a day, it started in someone else's park, and it had to finish before Skyline closed. The district's own page still warns that the trip through Skyline is "a lengthy round-trip hike" and tells visitors to bring water and study the Skyline map before setting out.
Two Entrances, Side by Side
With North Kelly open, Suscol has its own entrance. The district has kept the fees and trail rules the same at both entrances, so the real differences are hours and facilities.
| North Kelly Rd lot | Skyline Wilderness Park | |
|---|---|---|
| Address | 1700 North Kelly Rd, Napa | Through Skyline, gate on the Napa Solano Ridge Trail at the top of the park |
| Hours | Sunrise to sunset | 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. fall/winter; 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. spring/summer |
| Parking fee | $6 per car | $6 per car; $3 to walk in or bike in |
| Skyline annual pass | Accepted, displayed on the dashboard | Accepted |
| Restrooms | Portable restroom | Restrooms |
| Drinking water | None | Potable water |
| ADA parking | Yes | Yes |
Under the district's June 2026 plan, the North Kelly lot holds about 24 cars, two of them in ADA spaces, plus room for up to four horse trailers. That is a small lot for a park this size, so a sunny weekend morning could fill it. Skyline is still the entrance with drinking water, and North Kelly has none. Anyone starting from North Kelly needs to carry all their water.
What the Climb From North Kelly Gives You
From the North Kelly lot, a short walk up a service road leads to the trailhead. The trail climbs the ridge, and the district's park page says the views over southern Napa County start almost right away. It puts the access trail at about 3.5 miles before it enters the main body of the park. The district's dedication announcement describes the new section as five miles of Bay Area Ridge Trail leading to the southern part of Suscol Headwaters.
The short-day payoff is that the views start in the first part of the climb. Someone leaving work in the early afternoon can climb from North Kelly, see across the south county, and walk back down before dark. They don't have to drive across town to Skyline and race a 5 p.m. gate.
Once inside the park, the district's trail map, updated October 24, 2026, names these trails:
- Suscol Ridge Trail
- Big Bend Trail
- Little Bend Trail
- Chance the Cowboy Trail
- Perdida Trail
- Buckaroo Trail
The Bay Area Ridge Trail Council describes its route through Skyline and Suscol as oak woodland and grassland. The route passes a perennial stream and has views of the North Bay marshes, Mount St. Helena and the San Francisco skyline. Suscol Creek runs through the park, and the district identifies it as habitat for native fish and amphibians, including threatened steelhead trout.
All of these are multi-use trails, open to hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders. The horse-trailer spaces at North Kelly mean riders no longer have to start in Skyline to reach Suscol's ridgelines.
Who Built It, and What Is Still Coming
The trails came together over several years with several groups doing the work. A $1.2 million grant from the California Department of Parks and Recreation paid for 6.9 miles of new natural-surface trail in the park, including Buckaroo, Little Bend, Big Bend and much of Suscol Ridge. The district announced the award in August 2022. It came from Proposition 68 and was meant to support a 14-mile multi-use trail project and a more accessible parking lot.
Volunteers built much of the trail by hand. In April 2024, Napa Valley Focus reported on volunteers building tread and rockwork at Suscol under trail designer Kevin Smallman. At the October 22 dedication, district staff and local officials stood alongside the trail builders and community supporters for the ribbon cutting.
For the North Kelly lot, a June 2026 district staff report recommended a construction contract with Vaca Valley Excavating and Trucking, Inc., with a cost not to exceed $420,064.68.
The 6.9 miles built so far are part of a 14-mile plan. The district's park page says it is still designing and building the trail system and expects to add more access points in the coming years. The Ridge Trail Council's longer goal of linking Skyline with Lynch Canyon Open Space in Solano County runs across private parcels and a Highway 12 crossing. North Kelly finishes one part of that route, and the Napa-to-Solano connection is still to come.
Before the First Visit
The district asks visitors to respect neighboring private property and stay inside park boundaries. From the district's posted rules:
- Dogs are not allowed on the trails at Suscol Headwaters, from either entrance.
- Stay on district land. Watch for park boundary signs, stay on official trails, and don't use or create social trails.
- No hunting or shooting in the park.
- Bring all your water when starting from North Kelly, where there is no potable water.
- Skyline annual pass holders can park at North Kelly by displaying the pass on the dashboard.
The district posts closures and trail conditions on its park and trail status page, and its November 6 update listed the new southern entrance as open. In the wet months, check that page before driving out.
If you are thinking about land, acreage or a home near the open space in the southern end of the county and want a local guide who understands how this ground is used and protected, Randy Waller is glad to talk it through. Let's Connect.
