Wildflowers and Wonderful Views

Sonoma Valley Spring Wildflowers and Views

Cheese and chocolate go great with wine, but right now Sonoma Valley has something even better for your pairings: wildflowers! On top of its award-winning wines, Sonoma Valley’s 13,000 acres of state and regional parks are exploding with poppies, buttercups, irises, red larkspurs, and blue-eyed grass.

Jack London State Park—in the heart of the valley—is home to its namesake adventure writer’s ranch and miles of hiking trails that go through redwood trees and up to fantastic valley vistas of vineyards rolling all the way to San Pablo Bay … with wildflowers adding a rainbow of color to the mountainsides.

Sonoma’s charming historic plaza is a must-visit, and right behind it is a favorite local hike: The Overlook Trail is 1 mile (one-way) through California poppies and up to a sweeping view of Sonoma Valley, Mount Tam, and San Francisco.

Afterwards, celebrate Sonoma Valley’s most colorful season by strolling the tasting rooms, boutique stores, and dining spots around the Plaza.

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  1. Paint Brushy

    This time of year you’ll have good reason to head for the hills—the electric-green rolling hills of Brushy Peak Regional Preserve in Livermore. This 4.5-mile loop hike is like stepping into a plein air painting.

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  2. Woman hiker is climbing up the ladder in the Steep Ravine section of the Dipsea Loop Trail on Mount Tam

    Misty on Mount Tam

    Mount Tam’s 3.9-mile round-trip Steep Ravine and Dipsea Trail Loop weathers the wets and wilds with some confidence, sheltered in parts by redwoods, and wowing with a waterfall.

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  3. All right, Almaden!

    Take a trip through time on this 5-mile loop in Almaden Quicksilver County Park. Explore the ruins of an old cinnabar mine and enjoy the first hints of wildflower season.

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  4. Up and Umunhum

    Early risers can experience one of the Bay Area’s best morning glory hikes on this 7.4-mile out-and-back up beautiful Mount Umunhum. In early spring if you arrive at the parking area right before sunrise, you’ll get a beautiful eastern view of the sun coming up between Bald Mountain and the nearby Santa Cruz Mountains. On days when fog settles into the valley, the colorful view is nothing short of magical.

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    Purely Wild

    Channel Islands National Park lives up to its nickname as “North America’s Galapagos.” This less-traveled national park is an undeveloped and isolated series of five dramatic and distinct islands reached by boat. Hike the largest of the islands, Santa Cruz.

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