Calistoga Area Hikes

Last Update: July 18, 2009

Description:

Calistoga is a small town nestled in the northern part of the Napa valley, about 400 feet above sea level. To the south, a gentle ridge of mountains separates it from the Santa Rosa and Sonoma valleys. To the North, a tall, jagged ridge known as the palisades rises over 2000 feet up from the valley floor to create a beautiful, striking backdrop to the town. At the north of the Palisades is Mount Saint Helena, whose highest peak is 4340 feet tall, and occasionally dusted with snow during winter.

Calistoga is a resort town, best known for its mud baths and the Calistoga geyser. It is surrounded by wineries. Most of the hikes here are exposed to full sun, making for great hikes in the colder months of Winter. Most of the hikes are at higher elevations, and since it is a few mountain ridges away from the coast, these hikes are often clear and sunny when the Santa Rosa valley is filled with fog.

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Trailheads and Hikes:

Trailhead	Driving Time To Trailhead	Hike	End Point	Difficulty	Length (miles)	Elevation	Hike Time	Total Time
Robert Louis Stevenson	45-55 minutes	Climb Mt. Saint Helena, North Peak	peak	medium	10	2100 feet	TBD hours	7.5 hours
Robert Louis Stevenson	45-55 minutes	Hike to Table Rock in Palisades	table rock	low	4.4	1200 feet	TBD hours	~5 hours
Oat Hill Mine Trailhead [map]	40 minutes	Oat hill mine trail hike	bald hill	low	5.7	1300 feet	2:45 hours	4:45 hours
			holmes house	med	8.1	1800 feet	3:45 hours	5:45 hours
			rocky outcrop	high	10.7	2500 feet	5:00 hours	7:00 hours
			aetna springs rd	med	6.8	2400 feet	TBD	TBD
			oat hill road	high	8.9	2500 up 1100 down	TBD	TBD
		1-way hike from Calistoga valley up through the palisades	high	high		3500 up 1700 down	8.5 hours	8.5 hours

Other Links
Robert Louis Stevenson SP (California State Park Official Site) Oat Hill Mine Trail (Napa County)

Note: times are approximate. Time to trailhead assumes that the starting point is near Coddingtown Mall in Santa Rosa. (our main carpool meeting spot).

Special Notes:

Intro: Most trailheads are exposed with high elevations.
Pro's: These trails are great in winter and on cold days. Mount saint Helena is one of the few places you can hike to find snow.
Con's: These hikes are hot! Do not do on hot days in the summer, and bring windbreakers/ear muffs on windy days for the high points with the best views.
What to bring: Plenty of water. 2-3 22oz bottles on a cold day for climbing Mount Saint Helena or 3-4 22oz bottles on a cold day for the Oat Hill mine trail. On warm or hot days, bring more water, and start earlier. Boots are a good idea after rain due to slippery clay on table rock hike, and good boots are strongly recommended on the palisades trail due to sharp, hard volcanic rock. If you're hiking up to the snow on the top of Mount Saint Helena, bring some cardboard to sled down some of the small hills on top, and perhaps some snow cone paper cups and syrup. Yummy! Binoculars are good for viewing remote mountains from the top of Mt. Saint Helena, and for viewing Peregrine falcons from Table rock. A good camera is also useful for beautiful landscape shots.

Calistoga Area Hikes

Description:

Trailheads and Hikes:

Special Notes:

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