The Occidental Tourist

What does a Colorado native, who has been transplanted to San Diego, crave? Trees and mountains! Real trees and real hills. Not the glamorous palm trees that are outside my window right now. Bushy green leafy trees that provide shade and spill onto the sidewalk. Not gentle rolling hills covered in desert scrub. I miss hills that make me breathless and trails covered in pine needles. To satisfy this craving, I decided to explore the Redwoods of Sonoma County in Northern California. After scouring the vast amount of options available in Sonoma County, I chose Occidental as my base.

Occidental is a charming town approximately 70 miles north of San Francisco. The town is surrounded by Redwoods and the coveted green leafy hills. I stayed at the Inn at Occidental, which is a beautiful property perched on a hillside that hosts wine tasting nightly on its wraparound porch overlooking the town.

The first morning, I was up shortly after sunrise and walked into town to get a cup of coffee and window shop before the town woke up. Armed with coffee from Howard’s Station, a café in a doily Victorian building, I covered the three blocks of Main Street rather quickly. Four restaurants, one tavern, two grocery stores, and a handful of art galleries and craft stores. Check. Not much in the way of distractions.

This was fine by me, today I was going to go hiking in the Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve. I chose to do a moderate 5.6 mile hike along the East Ridge Trail. The trailhead immediately starts out in a thick cluster of darkness. The trail is dense with trees as you slowly wind your way up the mountainside. At the top of the first peak, you are briefly spit out into a wheat-colored meadow before being swallowed up again in the dank dark forest. The forest is so thick with majestic Redwoods that the sun can’t penetrate more than a few slivers of light to the leaf-strewn trail below. The view from the halfway point is miles of glorious treetops as far as the eye can see.

The most rewarding part of the hike for me was the last mile when the trail takes you into a grove of ancient Redwoods. Here, I found two park treasures; The Parson Jones Tree, which is the tallest tree in the park at 310 feet tall and the oldest tree in the park, The Colonel Armstrong Tree, believed to be 1400 years old.

The day was topped off by a farm-to-table meal at Barley and Hops Tavern back in Occidental. The tavern offers an array of craft beers, locals wines, and fresh organic food.

With all the fresh air, exercise, and good food, I'm going to sleep well tonight!

Next up: wine tasting and driving along the coast from Jenner to Bodega Bay.