{"id":109,"date":"2020-05-26T11:50:31","date_gmt":"2020-05-26T18:50:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rfo.org\/?page_id=109"},"modified":"2024-09-20T23:11:07","modified_gmt":"2024-09-21T06:11:07","slug":"directions-to-rfo","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/rfo.org\/index.php\/about-us\/directions-to-rfo\/","title":{"rendered":"Directions &#038; Hours"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"MainHead\"><strong>Directions to Northern California&#8217;s most active&nbsp;Public Observatory<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<center><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0;\" tabindex=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d5838.561395213052!2d-122.5101073876432!3d38.436960350042064!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x808451dec7ea1a0f%3A0x9e1d7d8f5fca706e!2sRobert%20Ferguson%20Observatory!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1590518968303!5m2!1sen!2sus\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" aria-hidden=\"false\"><\/iframe><\/p><\/center>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"560\" height=\"357\" src=\"http:\/\/rfo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Map-to-RFO.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-110\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rfo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Map-to-RFO.jpg 560w, https:\/\/rfo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Map-to-RFO-300x191.jpg 300w, https:\/\/rfo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Map-to-RFO-94x60.jpg 94w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"MainHead\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Directions<\/strong><br>From Highway 12 east of Santa Rosa, turn on Adobe Canyon Road toward Sugarloaf Ridge State Park. Follow the road up the canyon. From the Park&#8217;s entrance kiosk, proceed straight up the road, following the signs to the observatory.&nbsp;<em>Please drive slowly\u2014hikers and animals abound!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just past the white barn, you will come to a green gate. Do not drive past the gate, even if it\u2019s open. Park in the gravel area between the corrals and the green gate, then walk past the gate up the road a short distance to the observatory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hours<\/strong><br>The Observatory is\u00a0<em>not open<\/em>\u00a0to the public except for scheduled events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What to expect<\/strong><br>A typical Public Star Party is staffed by volunteers who run the observatory\u2019s three main telescopes, operate smaller scopes in front of the observatory, provide educational talks on astronomical topics in the classroom, help to park cars, and assist visitors moving about the observatory in the dark. Visitors are encouraged to ask questions about astronomy, cosmology, telescopes, and the observatory itself. Alcohol is prohibited on Observatory grounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Night Viewing Times<\/strong><br>Our start times are listed on the\u00a0<a id=\"linktext\" href=\"https:\/\/rfo.org\/index.php\/solar-and-star-parties\/\">Star Parties<\/a>\u00a0page. We keep the observatory open as long as there are visitors, but you must arrive within two hours after start time to ensure that we remain open for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About Night Vision<\/strong><br>Why do we use red light around the Observatory? It takes about 20-30 minutes for our eyes to adapt to the dark, and we want to see all we can through the telescopes! Red light interferes the least, but any light has an effect. We provide red cellophane covers for your flashlights, but please keep them pointed away from people, preferably at the ground. Alternatively, small red light flashlights are for sale at the observatory.\u00a0See our\u00a0<a id=\"linktext\" href=\"https:\/\/rfo.org\/index.php\/solar-and-star-parties\/\">Star Parties<\/a>\u00a0page for more details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Access for Visitors with Disabilities<\/strong><br>The Observatory building is accessible with ramps.&nbsp;Restrooms are accessible. The classroom presentation and observing with both the 40&#8243; telescope and the 14&#8243; digital telescope are accessible. Other telescopes must be used while standing. When necessary, we can help you park your vehicle in a designated space near the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please inform the parking attendants if you require this service. Accessibility stickers are hard to see in the dark!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/rfo.org\/index.php\/rfo-store\/\">Browse our Store<\/a><\/strong><br>The Observatory has a\u00a0retail counter\u00a0inside the building&#8217;s main entrance that offers tools for observing such as planispheres, red flashlights, foot and hand warmers, binoculars, guides and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/rfo.org\/index.php\/planet-walk\/\">Planet Walk<\/a><\/strong><br><em>Planet Walk<\/em>\u00a0is a scale model of the solar system designed to fit within the boundaries of Sugarloaf Ridge State Park. It&#8217;s a 4-1\/2 mile round trip hike to Pluto and back, and gives you a physical appreciation of the distances between planets.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sugarloaf Ridge State Park<br><\/strong>For more information about hiking trails and Park amenities, visit the&nbsp;<a id=\"linktext\" href=\"http:\/\/sugarloafpark.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sugarloaf Park<\/a>&nbsp;website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sugarloaf Ridge State Park Air Quality<br><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<center><div id=\"PurpleAirWidget_14335_module_AQI_conversion_C0_average_10_layer_standard\">Loading PurpleAir Widget&#8230;<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/www.purpleair.com\/pa.widget.js?key=28A8TV6S5NMZZ737&amp;module=AQI&amp;conversion=C0&amp;average=10&amp;layer=standard&amp;container=PurpleAirWidget_14335_module_AQI_conversion_C0_average_10_layer_standard\"><\/script><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"center-content\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Directions to Northern California&#8217;s most active&nbsp;Public Observatory &nbsp; DirectionsFrom Highway 12 east of Santa Rosa, turn on Adobe Canyon Road toward Sugarloaf Ridge State Park. Follow the road up the canyon. From the Park&#8217;s entrance kiosk, proceed straight up the road, following the signs to the observatory.&nbsp;Please drive slowly\u2014hikers and animals abound! Just past the &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":127,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-109","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rfo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rfo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rfo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rfo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rfo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/rfo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2589,"href":"https:\/\/rfo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/109\/revisions\/2589"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rfo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rfo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}