7 Jack London
State Historic Park
Napa has Robert Louis
Stevenson, but Sonoma’s
got Jack London.
This 1400-acre park
(%707-938-5216; http://www.
jacklondonpark.com; 2400
London Ranch Rd, Glen Ellen;parking $8; (^) h10am-5pm
Fri-Mon; (^) c) traces the last
years of the author’s life.
Changing occupations
from Oakland fisherman
to Alaska gold prospector
to Pacific yachtsman –
and novelist on the side –
London (1876–1916)
ultimately took up
farming. He bought
Beauty Ranch in 1905
and moved there in 1910.
With his second wife,
Charmian, he lived and
wrote in a small cottage
while his mansion,
Wolf House, was under
construction. On the
eve of its completion in
1913, it burned down.
The disaster devastated
London, and although he
toyed with rebuilding, he
died before construction
got underway. His
widow, Charmian, built
the House of Happy
Walls, which has been
preserved as a museum.
It’s a half-mile walk from
there to the remains
of Wolf House, passing
London’s grave along the
way. Other paths wind
around the farm to the
cottage where he lived
and worked. Miles of
hiking trails (some open
to mountain bikes) weave
through oak-dotted
woodlands, between
600ft and 2300ft
elevation.
The Drive » Drive east back
to Hwy 12, and 3 miles north
for the Wildwood Farm and
Sculpture Garden.
8 Kenwood
Gardeners shouldn’t
miss Wildwood Farm and
Sculpture Garden (%707-
833-1161, 888-833-4181; http://www.
wildwoodmaples.com; 10300
Sonoma Hwy; h10am-4pm
Wed-Sun, 10am-3pm Tue),
where abstract outdoor
art sits between exotic
plants and Japanese
maples. Arachnophobes
should probably overlook
the creepy steel spiders.
Family-run Figone’s
Olive Oil (%707-282-9092;
http://www.figoneoliveoil.com; 9580
Sonoma Hwy; (^) h10:30am-
5:30pm) grows its own
olives and presses extra-
virgin olive oil. Take a
break from wine tasting
and sample the infused
citrus oils (think Meyer
lemons or blood oranges)
and exquisite balsamics.
A cult favorite, supercool
winery Kaz (%707-833-2536;
http://www.kazwinery.com; 233 Adobe
Canyon Rd, Kenwood; tastings $5,
bottles $20-48; (^) h11am-5pm Fri-
Mon; c#) is about blends:
whatever’s in the organic
vineyards goes into the
wine – and they’re blended
at crush, not during
fermentation. Expect
lesser-known varietals
like alicante bouchet and
lenoir, and a worthwhile
cabernet-merlot blend.
Kids can sample grape
juice, then run around the
playground out back, while
you sift through LPs and
pop your favorites onto the
turntable. Crazy fun.
TRIP HIGHLIGHT
Start: 4 Sonoma Plaza
The top close-to-town outdoors destination is
375-acre Bartholomew Park (%707-935-9511; http://www.
bartholomewparkwinery.com; 1000 Vineyard Lane), off Castle
Rd to the east of town, where you can picnic beneath
giant oaks and hike 3 miles of trails, with hilltop
vistas to San Francisco. There’s also a good winery
and small museum. The Palladian Villa, at the park’s
entrance, is a turn-of-the-20th-century replica of the
original residence of Count Haraszthy, a pioneering
Sonoma vintner. It’s open noon to 3pm, Saturdays
and Sundays, and operated by the Bartholomew
Foundation (%707-938-2244).
BARTHOLOMEW PARK
DETOUR:
NORTHERN.CALIFORNIA
6
(^) SONOMA VALLEY