The Red Barn on September 27, 2020. Image captured by Diane Askew.

By Tim Trainor (Volunteer History Docent) 

This post is part of our ongoing historical series on the rich history of Sugarloaf Ridge State Park. 

September 2024 marked the four year anniversary of the Glass Fire that ravaged Sugarloaf Ridge State Park and destroyed the iconic Red Barn that was built there over 100 years ago. The Red Barn served as a memorable destination for those who began their hikes in the park by trekking up and past Bald Mountain to the barn site situated on Bear Creek. The Red Barn was located on the property that was homesteaded by Ray Hurd and his family in 1914. The Hurds raised seven children on the property, and other homesteaders built their own cabins in the area.

The Hurds’ journey to their homestead originated in St. Helena, where they accessed the site via Sulphur Springs Road, traveling by vehicle up to John McCormick’s property and from there by horse and foot the rest of the way to their cabins. Ray Hurd was a house painter in St. Helena, and also commuted to Lodi to work there periodically for weeks at a time.

Hess Lumber Sebastopol Company vehicle that would haul wood through the road on Bear Creek.

With the help of another homesteading family, the Fitzsimmons, whose homestead became part of Hood Mt Regional Park in 2019, built a road following Bear Creek down to Adobe Canyon Road. They used this to access Kenwood, so that they could purchase groceries from Ned Wilson’s Kenwood Mercantile store on the Sonoma side of the ridge. They also used the road to haul lumber, purchased from Hess Lumber in Cunningham (Sebastopol), up to their property to build the Red Barn in 1920.

The Hurd family moved to St. Helena in the late 1920s, along with the Cookson family and other homesteaders. Ray Hurd sold the property to Samuel Errington, a regional executive for Bank of America, in 1930.

The Napa Journal reported in April 1931 that “Mr. Errington has built a lodge in a slight location on the Sonoma side which commands a magnificent view, and there the owner hastens himself on weekends so as to forget the cares of banking. Usually he takes with him to his bachelor quarters on the mountain with some of his friends and there they ride horseback, hunt in season, or just lie around and rest, basking in the sunshine and fanned by the breezes from the Pacific.”

The Red Barn’s interior. Image captured by Diane Askew.

Errington and his friend Joe Vasconi operated the E and V Lodge on the former Hurd property, adding cement foundations, a generator, and the wiring for electricity. Joe Vasconi died in 1954 and Samuel Errington passed away in 1962. The property was eventually sold to the State in the 1960s, and incorporated into Sugarloaf Ridge State Park.

In 2019, the remainder of the historic McCormick Ranch that is not part of Sugarloaf Ridge State Park was acquired and safeguarded as part of the Napa and Sonoma park networks. The Sonoma County section became part of Hood Mountain Regional Park and Open Space Preserve, while the Napa County section is overseen by the Napa County Regional Park and Open Space District following its transfer from the Napa Land Trust.

This acquisition not only secures the land’s preservation but also creates an opportunity for future hikers from both counties to retrace the footsteps of the Hurd family from over 100 years ago, converging at the historic barn site.

The last image taken of the Red Barn on September 27, 2020, captured by Diane Askew.

On September 27, the day before the Glass Fire started, Park Manager John Roney and Breck Parkman visited the Red Barn to review a possible project. Diane came along, always eager for another chance to photograph one of her favorite places. Many of the photos accompanying this article were taken by professional photographer Diane Askew, who was inspired by the Red Barn and took some of its last pictures before its destruction by the fire. Diane passed away in 2021, and her beautiful photos serve both as a fitting legacy of her work and a memorial to the Red Barn.

Diane Askew. Image captured by Breck Parkman.

The photo above was taken in New Mexico 1991, shortly after meeting by Breck Parkman, one of Sugarloaf Ridge State Park’s history docents and retired CA State Parks Archaeologist, Bay Area District at Bandelier National Monument. He was teaching her photography. During a photo outing through the Southwest, Breck quickly realized that Diane had a true “photographer’s eye.” Soon after, he gave her all of his cameras—including the one she’s using in the photo—and she set off on her journey to becoming a professional photographer.

This photo was taken around 2018 at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco, where The National Audubon had an exhibit of nature photography. Diane is standing beside one of her photos, a stunning great egret from the West Ninth Street rookery in Santa Rosa. Standing next to Diane is Breck Parkman’s son, Jon Parkman. Jon often accompanied Diane to West Ninth Street and the Red Barn.

To access the same uniquely beautiful landscapes that drew homesteaders to the area over 100 years ago, join Sonoma Ecology Center and Team Sugarloaf on Saturday, April 12 for an unforgettable journey through the heart of the Mayacamas Mountains. Our Headwaters to Headwaters fundraising hike passes through the same areas settled by homesteaders, and offers participants the rare opportunity to access areas usually closed to the public.