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Bothe-Napa Valley State Park
Bothe-Napa Valley State Park is located near the heart of Napa Valley, just north of St. Helena and 5 miles south of Calistoga, making it a very convenient location for visitors to Napa. A 10-minute drive can take you to either of these destinations. If you can secure a reservation, it’s a great idea to spend a night here during your Napa Valley trip. If you're tired of visiting wineries and want to enjoy nature, this 1,900-acre park is a great option. The park offers around 10 miles of hiking trails, surrounded by California coast redwoods and Douglas-fir trees, providing a cool respite even during Napa Valley’s hot summers. We visited during a fall wine-tasting trip to Napa Valley and stayed here for a night.
I put together a simple checklist for beginners.
Campsite Review
- Comfort: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The campground is quite comfortable. Though the terrain isn’t perfectly flat, the ground is soft. When we visited, it had just rained, but with a campfire at night, it wasn’t cold at all.
- Space: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Compared to other California campsites, the space here is medium-sized, but it’s still large enough for two small families.
- Cleanliness: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Overall it was clean and the facilities were well organized.
- Location: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
One of the best things about Bothe-Napa Valley State Park is the park's location. Just outside the park is the winery, and it's not far from the heart of Napa Valley. In terms of convenience around the campground, the restrooms are close by and the trails are just a few steps away.
- Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Bothe-Napa Valley State Park's campground has 45 tent campsites and 10 luxury yurts, but of course it's not easy to make a reservation. Our reservation was for a tent campsite. The plants in the park are mainly redwoods, and the campground is still a little bit of fall, which is quite pleasant to look at. In fact, there is a swimming pool in the park, so you can go there in summer.
- Hotel search: Agoda
- Activities & tickets: KKday / Klook / TripAdvisor
- Travel credit cards (US only): My card picks + beginner tips
Coyote Peak Trail
There are 10 miles of trails in the park, which can be divided into 12 different loops. We started from the campground and wanted to tackle the most popular Coyote Peak 1.5 miles away. The second half of the trail is difficult and the terrain is quite steep, so if you want to take it easy, you can consider taking the 1.1 mile History trail or staying on the Ritchey canyon trail.
The first half of the trail we chose is the Redwood trail, which is mostly redwoods, and after about 0.5 mile you will see a fork in the trail that connects to the Coyote peak trail, which crosses a creek in the middle.
The scenery on the Coyote peak trail is starting to change, with more fall foliage, but the real star of the show here is Douglas fir.
The terrain began to rise and it was hard to climb to the high ground, but the mountain was still covered with fog.
The final ascent to Coyote Peak was more challenging than expected, but I made it to the top. 1170 feet to Coyote Peak, from which you can see Napa Valley below.
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Further reading
- More California posts
