Napa Valley
California's beautiful Napa Valley is one of the most famous wine growing regions in the world, and the ultimate retreat for wine and food lovers as well as romantics. Hundreds of wineries are nestled throughout the valley, which also boasts a plentiful selection of fine dining, hotels, spas, and quintessential Wine Country activities like hot-air ballooning, all of which are set amidst rolling, mustard flower-covered hills and vast stretches of vineyards. Napa is beautiful all year around—from the crisp air and green countryside in the winter; to the budding vines and wildflowers in the spring; to the hot days and cool evenings of summer; to the crisp air, lovely autumn colors, and the rush of grape crush in the fall.

The Napa Valley begins where the Napa River, one of four navigable rivers in California, empties into the San Francisco Bay, and continues North to Calistoga, seated at the foot of Mount St. Helena, an extinct volcano and source of the famous soil in Napa Valley. The valley is divided by the meandering Napa River, and is no more than a few miles wide at its widest point. Travel north to south is easy, either on Highway 29 on the west side, or by the less-traveled and more bucolic Silverado Trail on the east.

Napa, founded in 1824 and now with a population of over 60,000, is by far the largest city in the Napa Valley and where most of the locals live. In addition to stores found in most towns, Napa also boasts tree-lined streets, wonderful Victorian and Italianate houses, and a beautiful town square and county courthouse are found in the city center. It also contains many fine restaurants and major discount shopping.

St. Helena is the high-profile center of the Napa Wine Industry, but is a small town with fewer than 6,000 people. The charming Main Street area contains countless upscale restaurants and fancy shops. Literature buffs should stop at the renowned Silverado Museum, housed in its own wing at the St. Helena Public Library. Bale Grist Mill State Historic Park, just north of St. Helena, preserves an 1846 waterwheel mill beside a lovely stream. Nearby Bothe-Napa Valley State Park has 10 miles of hiking trails and hundreds of species of birds, as well as coyotes, bobcats, deer and foxes.

Calistoga, at the top of the valley, is another picturesque winery hub, built along a charming main street with a collection of intriguing small businesses and an impressive array of mud-bath spas. Calistoga has been famous for its mineral waters and residual volcanic mud—the town is built atop a boiling underground river—ever since it was promoted as "California's Saratoga" in the mid 1800s. Though the town is increasingly upscale, there's still something fun and funky about Calistoga. The Old Faithful geyser—not the famous one in Yellowstone—blows hot water some 60 feet into the air every 40 minutes. A petrified forest of fallen redwoods is nearby, 1.5 miles northwest of town off of Highway 128. Calistoga hugs the feet of modest Mount St. Helena, where small and undeveloped Robert Louis Stevenson State Park offers pleasant hiking for those brave enough to jockey for parking along the narrow highway. Calistoga is a great starting point for trips northwest and east of Napa Valley into some of California's beautiful countryside.

For more information:
www.napavalleyonline.com
www.napavalley.com
www.winecountry.com