Kirkland Ranch in south Napa County has a ridge with sweeping views of vineyards, wetlands, San Pablo Bay and beyond, which the local park district wants the public to experience.

“I think that would certainly be a draw for a lot of people,” Napa County Regional Park and Open Space District General Manager John Woodbury said Monday.

The district recently released its “to-do” list for 2015. If all goes as planned, it will buy hundreds of acres of land and build new trails allowing the public to see parts of Napa County presently off-limits.

This push includes buying 411 acres of the Kirkland Ranch. Then the district could create a 5.5-mile trail leading from Highway 12 in Jameson Canyon up to the Tuteur Loop trail, which links with Skyline Wilderness Park east of the city of Napa.

Kirkland Ranch’s history includes being a cattle ranch, Woodbury said. An investment group bought the property several years ago to develop as vineyard properties. The 411 acres sought by the district is outside the approved vineyard areas.

A district report said the purchase could be completed in July. A $1.1 million grant through the region’s One Bay Area program is making the proposed deal possible, with $900,000 targeted for the purchase and $200,000 for improvements.

Another proposed land deal involves buying 588 acres near the 6,350-acre Cedar Roughs Wilderness Area west of Lake Berryessa. This would provide the first convenient public access to the wilderness area owned by the Bureau of Land Management, a district report said.

Cedar Roughs Wilderness Area is home to a large stand of Sargent cypress that covers about 50 percent of the property. The stand is considered unique both because of its size and because it has relatively pure genetic material, according to the Bureau of Land Management.

The land the district hopes to buy before year’s end would link Cedar Roughs with the Smittle Creek Day Use Area along Lake Berryessa. Hikers could use the day use area for parking.

“We’ve been in discussions with the landowners for years,” Woodbury said. “They want to do it. We want to do it. But we haven’t signed an agreement yet. Things can change.”

Most of the $1.7 million for the purchase would come from the state Wildlife Conservation Board.

The district operates 673-acre Moore Creek Park with nearly 6 miles of trails near Lake Hennessey in the mountains east of St. Helena. It plans to build a couple of new trails there this year.

One is the 0.7 mile Sam the Eagle Trail. The name came about several months ago when district officials were looking at the trail alignment, Woodbury said. A bald eagle flew from a tree about 50 feet in front of them, he said.

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