Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Lavender Hill Spa
(1015 Foothill Blvd., Calistoga;
%
707/942-4495; www.
lavenderhillspa.com)
does everything with Asian flair and additives (a Thai Bath
uses milk; the mud bath, kelp), and its mud is thinner than at other spas. One-
hour treatments are $70.
Lincoln Avenue Spa
(1339 Lincoln Ave., Calistoga;
%
707/942-2950;
www.lincolnavenuespa.com)
might be the choice for severe claustrophobes,
because they won't have to get into the thick, mucky baths that alarm some peo-
ple. Instead, they apply mud onto themselves in a private room—with a loved
one, if desired—followed by time in a less-constricting steam capsule. That's $85
for an hour, minus a 10% online booking discount.
ACTIVE SONOMA
Because of a relatively tranquil climate, hot-air ballooning is a possible pursuit
here. You've got to get up before dawn to try it (you'll be airborne as the light
appears), and the path changes depending on weather patterns.
Napa Valley Aloft
(www.nvaloft.com)
offers several different baskets fitting between four and eight
people; the latter cost $225 to $245 per person. As with so much, it's cheaper
in Sonoma: the company
A Balloon over Sonoma
(
%
707/546-3360; www.
aballoonoversonoma.com)
charges $195 per person, $165 for kids 6 to 12.
I can't think of a much more pleasing way to pass an afternoon than on horse-
back on a 90-minute walk through the moist redwoods of Armstrong Redwoods
State Reserve. That's what's offered by
Armstrong Woods Pack Station
(
%
707/
887-2939; www.redwoodhorses.com; $70, $65 for kids under 18),
run by husband-
and-wife team Jonathan and Laura Ayers. A 4-hour ride to the top of McCray
Mountain, where there's a vista of Sonoma County, is $175. The Ayers also do
rides through the Austin Creek State Recreation Area (same pricing as Armstrong
Woods), which has a less-dense flora and a topography consisting of hills and
thinner forests.
Triple Creek Horse Outfit
(
%
707/887-8700; www.triplecreek
horseoutfit.com)
does slightly more expensive tours (1 hr. for $60, 90 min. for
$70), but their three riding locations, split between three state parks in both Napa
Slip on Your Tevas
Because there's so much relatively wild natural beauty around them, Bay Area resi-
dents are some of the most outdoorsy folks in America, and they hike and bike
with a regularity that rivals going to the mall or movies for the rest of us.
Countless books have been written to round up the best locations, how to reach
them, and the (usually) supremely low costs that get you into them.
If you're into hiking, a terrific Web resource for ideas and information is
Weekend Sherpa
(www.weekendsherpa.com),
a (usually) weekly, short, easy-to-
read e-mail that rounds up places to hike and things to see that might appeal to
the fresh-air crew.
Hiking trails are also set up in the state parks; the major ones include Armstrong
Woods (p. 254), Robert Louis Stevenson (p. 254), and Sugarloaf Ridge (p. 240).
