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Take a hike in Bothe-Napa Valley State Park

Beyond Sonoma

(Karen Collins, once a "city girl,"  prefers the ambiance of small town life and enjoys the many and varied recreational opportunities surrounding the Sonoma Valley.  An avid hiker, she has led walking tours in North and South America, Europe, Asia and New Zealand.  She was formerly a Deputy Director of the California State Parks, chair of the California State Trails Commission and a co-founder of the Sonoma Overlook Trail.  Karen currently chairs the Sonoma County Parks Commission and serves on the board of the Bay Area Ridge Trail.  Her articles on outdoor adventures have been published in many newspapers and magazines throughout the country.)

 Memorable hiking spots can be found in Sonoma, Marin and Napa counties. It’s a fact that we who live in the greater San Francisco Bay Area have more open space at our disposal…literally at our feet…than any other metropolitan area in the country. Best of all, we don’t have to wait for weeks to get a reservation. Here's one just over the hills in Napa.
 

Bothe-Napa Valley State Park
 

Located in the heart of the Napa Valley, Bothe-Napa offers hiking trails that pass through some of the most easterly stands of redwoods, as well as forests of Douglas fir, tanoak and madrone. Most of the park is rugged with elevations ranging from 300 to 2,000 feet. However, the labyrinth of well-marked trails range from easy to moderately strenuous and offer plenty of opportunity to see the park’s diverse vegetation, geology and animal life.

Among the highlights are a small waterfall that drops down a canyon near the 2.3 mile Upper Ritchey Canyon Trail, the historic buildings and pioneer cemetery (the final resting place of some of the valley’s pioneers) along the 1.2 mile History Trail and the broad park and vineyard views from the 1.4 mile Coyote Peak Trail.
 

Bothe-Napa Valley State Park is located on Highway 29, four miles north of St. Helena. Phone (707) 942-4575.