When you think of Napa Valley, you think mainly of wine tasting, picnic lunches, lush vineyards and gourmet dinners. But hiking in Napa Valley wine country is an increasingly popular activity that demands a new verb – namely, “wiking” – where you can taste wine and hike, all in the same day.
California’s wine country is home to several lovely state parks on the stretch between Napa and Calistoga. Sugarloaf Ridge State Park and Annadel State Park are a bit off of the main Highway 29 that runs through the valley. But Bothe-Napa Valley State Park midway between St. Helena and Calistoga is the perfect stop on Highway 129 to stretch your legs between wine tastings. Another park further up north on Highway 29 past Calistoga is Robert Louis Stevenson State Park, famous for its Palisades trail (11 strenuous miles roundtrip) so if you are planning on spending a couple days in wine country, you can hit up all these wonderful state parks and their many scenic hiking trails.
The quintessential Napa Valley experience begins with wine tasting at one of the many hundreds of wineries in the valley. Whether you choose to stop by one or several wineries along the route from Napa to Calistoga, it’s a wonderful experience to taste all manner of wines – reds, whites, rosé, port and more. Some wineries offer cheese tastings and wine and cheese pairings, as well as the more exciting cave tours and unique barrel tastings.
Spring is a lovely time to visit Napa Valley. We were just there and were amazed to see the burst of colors across the landscape. Apart from beautiful vineyards loaded with grape vines all over the undulating hills of Napa Valley, bright orange California poppies and purple lupine dotted the landscape, alongside roads, framing vineyards like an impressionist painting.
After spending the previous day wine tasting and indulging in a bit too much cheese and good food, we wanted to stretch our legs on a nice hike. We stayed overnight at Calistoga, so Bothe-Napa Valley State Park enroute to Napa was a perfect stop the following morning. We paid the $8 entrance fee and the nice ranger at the park entrance gave us a ton of information on which trail to explore. It was a sunny, warm day, so he recommended the Redwoods trail (3+ miles roundtrip) which would be shaded and not as steep as the alternative Ritchey Canyon trail. Click here for trail map
A meandering walk through the lovely redwoods sounded great so we headed off on the hike soon after finding a parking spot beyond the park entrance. Note that there are no restrooms near the trailhead, but further down the paved road past the park entrance, there is a swimming pool and several picnic benches beneath the redwoods, and public restrooms are available here. The Redwoods and Ritchey Canyon trails both start at the same trailhead, and we were soon marveling at the lush greenery all around us, as towering redwoods made up the canopy overhead.
We met several people on the Redwoods trail – it looked like everybody had the same great idea to do a hike on such a gorgeous spring morning and work up their appetite for more wine and cheese for later in the day. Sure sounds win-win to me!
The Redwoods trail is 3 miles round trip if you turn around at the point where Redwoods and Ritchey Canyon intersect via a bubbling creek which can be easily crossed, thanks to conveniently placed boulders and logs.
The Redwoods trail continues further beyond this point and becomes narrower with denser forest growth. We explored a bit of the interiors before heading back along the same trail. Ritchey Canyon at the crossover point becomes a paved trail. Since we preferred walking on the natural trail rather than a paved road, we retraced our path back to the trailhead along Redwoods trail. Can you spot me hugging a redwood in the photo above?
The 3 mile hike was a very pleasant experience and we got a taste of hiking in Napa Valley. There are many other popular hiking trails and all-day hikes that are recommended in the area, especially Palisades trail in Robert Louis Stevenson State Park.
We arrived back at the trailhead, invigorated. It was late afternoon and the sun-kissed California poppies were still doing their merry dance in the refreshing afternoon breeze. After our mid-morning workout, we felt ready for lunch! As we drove past lush vineyards, we were again reminded of Napa Valley’s many indulgences. Throw in a hike and explore a nearby state park during your stay and you’ll fall in love with California’s spectacular wine country even more.
Happy hiking!
~ Trupti