Benoist Lake & Russian River: Riverfront Regional Park to Steelehead Beach

Trip Overview

Benoist Lake & Russian River: Riverfront Regional Park to Steelehead Beach // Trip Distance: Approx. 7 miles total (1.5mi lake & 5.5mi river) // Time In-to-Out: 5 hours, including 1 hour lunch & swim. // We couldn't find much info about this specific route, but decided to set off for a last-minute Sunday birthday adventure in two vehicles. A quick drive down River Road and we parked one car near the town of Forestville at Steelehead Beach ($7 at a staffed kiosk). Be aware this is a very popular location for local day-use river access, and the parking lot fills by 11am if it's a weekend with good weather. From there we jumped in the second vehicle with all of our gear, and headed over to Riverfront Regional Park (RRP), which is just outside of the towns of Windsor and Healdsburg, and only about a 10 minute drive on the gorgeous Eastside Road. Parked at RRP ($7 at self-serve kiosk, credit cards accepted), and grabbed our backpacks loaded with inflatable boards, lunch & drinking water. It's about a 10-15 minute walk on a flat, well maintained trail to Lake Benoist, the biggest and clearest of the three lakes at RRP. We inflated our boards and entered the lake from the Northeast corner for an hour-long paddle. Clear and still water made for a relaxing start, the beautiful location among redwoods is tranquil and calm. We did a partial loop around the lake and first exited in the far Southwest corner, however there is NO river access in this area. We paddled back mid-way on the west side of the lake and tried again. . . The trail 'spur' to the Russian River is well marked once you locate it at the top of the hill's ridge, but it is not listed on RRP's official map. See the trip photos to get a rough idea of where to look for the trail marker. On our second lake exit we found the elusive little trail spur; up and over the hill we went with boards in hand. This was the most exerting part of an otherwise easy trip, but alternatively you could walk straight to the river entry and set-up there if you're not keen on a lake paddle first (or not down to haul a blown-up board over the hill dividing lake from river). Once we entered the slightly more-chilly Russian River, it was a slow and easy paddle for 5.5 miles back to the car parked at Steelehead Beach. Lots of wildlife around, including a magnificent blue heron that put on a show for us and made sounds that could have been from a pterodactyl. Beautiful views were abundant throughout the trip, including redwoods and vineyards, and there were not too many people out. We stopped for our packed lunch on the river bank, and enjoyed a very leasurely pace. There's a quick portage required just beyond Wohler Bridge (the only bridge on the route), and you'll notice most float rentals pulling off to end their trip directly under bridge, prior to the upcoming portage. Portage was well marked with an exit on the left bank, and it is easy-peasy compared to the lake-to-river transfer earlier in our day. Back in the river for the final stretch, we came across a few shallow points where we had to get off our boards and push, but no more than a minute walk before the depth came back; this is common on the Russian River so late in the season. We ended our paddle at Steelehead Beach, had a refreshing swim and packed up our gear, then changed into dry clothes and drove the 10 minutes back to RRP to pickup the second car. We caught a breathtaking sunset over the lakes before stopping by Sweet T's in Windsor for an amazing BBQ feast -- it felt well earned and hit the spot perfectly. Highly recommended this gentle-going adventure all around, 10/10 would paddle again.