September and October are my favorite times to visit California. Summer still lingers, the rains are not yet here but the sun has lost some of its fire and has settled for a more gentle warmth.

Fall is the perfect time to tour the wine regions of Northern California, as the grape vines change from green to gold and red, and the harvest begins.

Many vineyards here are welcoming to families with young children and some are hosting special events to celebrate another fruitful year.

These are some of my favorite vineyards to visit with small children in tow.

Belden Barns

Nate and Lauren, the owners of the beautiful working farm and vineyard Belden Barns, invite you to their annual Grape Stomp. Nate says: “We do this to celebrate harvest and give families a chance to get out into the vineyard to actually pick grapes and bring them in to stomp them – with bare feet.

“We also have a great nature scavenger hunt for kids that want to partake and a farm tour where folks can taste a variety of vegetable crops straight out of the field with insight from our farming partners.

“Kids can have a great day outside in a natural setting getting a better understanding of how food is grown.”

Nate and Lauren have two young children of their own and are passionate about educating the next generation in sustainable, healthy food.

The Stomp is on Saturday October 5 from 11am to 4pm. All ages can attend. Those 21 and older require a ticket.

5561 Sonoma Mountain Rd, Santa Rosa, 415-577-8552. Tastings by appointment. 

ACORN Winery

September and October are great times to visit ACORN, a small vineyard tucked away in the Russian River Valley, according to Betsy Nachbaur, who owns the farm with husband Bill.

“The grapes are ripe enough to taste good, and if at all possible my husband likes to take families for a vineyard walk, to taste grapes, see owl houses, and maybe a jackrabbit or two.” Betsy says.

“We are totally ‘kid friendly’, and more importantly, welcoming to families with children. First of all is our attitude: we attempt to convey a sense of welcome to all of our guests, not just wine tasters!

“For the youngest (and their parents) we have a changing table in our restroom. For older children’s’ indoor amusement, we have Lego, crayons (and paper), and for outside engagement, balls and cornhole. As our tasting room (a converted garage) opens to the outdoors, older more independent kids (with their parents ‘ok’) can freely explore the vineyard, try to catch lizards, and climb the hill.”

Tastings are by appointment only, one group at a time, so families needn’t worry about their children disturbing others, Betsy adds.

Reservations for tastings can be made on ACORN’s website. When you sign up you will be asked for credit card information, but not be charged. This is the time to add a note of your children’s ages.

12040 Old Redwood Highway Healdsburg, CA

For more information or to make an appointment, call 707 433 6440.

Landmark Vineyards

Nestled in the Sonoma Valley, Landmark has agricultural pedigree: it was founded in 1974 by a group including Damaris Deere Ford, the great-great granddaughter of John Deere. 

During the summer and until October 6th, Landmark offers a unique family activity: horse-drawn carriage tours through the estate, led by third-generation farmer, Pat Prather. The tour includes Sonoma wine history as well as winemaking techniques and viniculture practices.

Tours are available every Saturday between May 5th and October 6th between 12pm-3pm, no reservations required.

Landmark is holding its annual Harvest Festival on Saturday October 5, from noon until 3pm, including BBQ, fall released wines and live music. Tickets are available on the website at $60 each.

101 Adobe Canyon Road
Kenwood, CA 95452
Hours: 10am to 5pm, daily
707 833 0053

Preston Farm and Winery

Bring your lunch, Preston Farm and Winery is the perfect spot for a picnic. Or forget, and buy some fresh-baked bread, pickles and olive oil from the farm shop. Not only is everything in the shop made on site, all the ingredients are grown here too.

I can attest the organic and biodynamic wine here is excellent and after your tasting, you can take a walk through the beautiful gardens. Kids will enjoy visiting the farm animals and spotting the cats snoozing in the sunshine.

The owners, Lou and Susan, have embraced a traditional approach to viniculture, which has led them to replace herbicides and pesticides with weeding and diverse planting. They also use traditional ways to process the grapes – replacing some of the machines with muscle.

Admittedly I am no wine expert but I thought they were delightful. 

No appointment needed, open 11am-4.30pm.
9282 West Dry Creek Road
Healdsburg, CA 95448
707 433 3372

Francis Ford Coppola

While the above vineyards should give you a taste of the smaller estates that often exclusively sell their bottles to upscale restaurants, Francis Ford Coppola is a household name.

Bringing a touch of old-school Hollywood glamour to the mostly conservative region, families can browse the movie memorabilia gallery before enjoying lunch and a swim. 

More of a resort than a vineyard, this is a fun place to visit and is totally welcoming to kids. For the full experience, renting out a cabine makes sense as you will have somewhere private to change and take a break from the sun.

Make your reservations online ahead of your visit ($40 for adults, $20 for kids for just the pool pass or $210 for a cabine reservation for four on a weekend).

Bocce and board games are also available free of charge to guests.

Francis Ford Coppola Winery is hosting a Halloween family event on October 27th. Find more details or make a pool reservation on the website.

300 Via Archimedes, Geyserville, CA 95441
Book a wine tasting, tour or pool pass: 707 857 1471

Beringer

California’s oldest continually operating winery, Beringer is a slice of Napa history. Kids under six are allowed to tag along on a 30 minute cave tour for free with adults who buy a $30 ticket (tasting included). The caves were hand-chiseled out of the hillside by Chinese laborers in the 1870s to create a place to store and age the wine.

On Saturdays during the Summer, and through to October 26th, Beringer hosts live music events, a perfect way to spend an afternoon in wine country.

Turn up for an informal tasting or book a tour on this historic property here.

2000 Main Street, St. Helena, CA 94574
Winery Hours: 10.00am – 5.30pm 

Sterling Vineyards

Sterling, founded in 1964, has grown to several estates dotted around Napa Valley. However, their Calistoga estate has the most unique family-friendly tasting experience – an aerial tram to the top of a hill!

Courtney Baldwin, spokesperson for Sterling, says: “Our Signature Experience is a nice outing for the entire family. Enjoy sweeping views of the valley from a very unique vantage point – Napa Valley’s only aerial tram.

“There are plenty of stunning photo opportunities along the way as you embark on a self-guided tour, getting a sneak-peak into our winemaking facilities and beautiful vista points.”

Tickets are $35 a person and include a tasting. Under 21 tickets are $20 and three and under go free.

The experience is one hour and reservations can be made online. 

1111 Dunaweal Lane, Calistoga, CA 94515
Winery hours: 10am – 4:30pm

Where to stay

Geyserville, a small town in Sonoma, is a great base to explore the region. The town is tiny but punches well above its weight in terms of restaurants – check out Diavola Pizzeria – and has a low-key, relaxed atmosphere.

The Geyserville Inn is a family-friendly hotel with attached restaurant Geyserville Grille serving some excellent breakfast and dinner, plus an outdoor swimming pool.

Looking for more California adventures? Check out my posts on the Redwoods and San Francisco!

The post Kid Friendly Wineries in Napa And Sonoma appeared first on Tiny Trailblazers.

California’s Redwood trees are world-famous for being the longest-living and tallest in the world. Unique to Northern California and southern Oregon’s coast, these ancient giants are a must-see for families visiting this region.

Fortunately, there are plenty of fun, family-friendly ways to enjoy the Redwoods, whether hiking in, riding over, driving under – or even taking a steam train.

Why visit the Redwoods?

Redwood forests are nature’s cathedrals. On entering, slow down and appreciate the silence, the cool air and the dimmed light. It is somewhere you can take a deep breath of clean air, relax and just be in the moment.

And if you think all this will be lost on your kids, there are always fallen trees to climb, hollowed trees to climb into and wildlife you won’t get anywhere else in the world: ever seen a bright yellow banana slug on a walk through the woods?

The Redwoods are easily accessible from San Francisco and the Bay Area. Or keep going and make them the focus of a road trip up the Northern California coast.

Check out this post from Road Tripping California for some California road trips inspiration.

Redwoods in Silicon Valley: Roaring Camp Railroads

The Santa Cruz Mountains did not have the shiny stuff but there was a still a kind of gold rush here. San Francisco needed lumber to build a city and the Coastal Redwoods were perfect – strong, insect and fire-proof – so they were felled in their thousands.

Roaring Camp was the railroad set up to transport the lumber down to Santa Cruz where it could be shipped out. Fortunately for us, Henry Cowell, who became rich from the trade, was persuaded by conservationists to buy and preserve the area before it was completely deforested. 

The steam train that used to haul lumber is now used to haul tourists. Take the train all the way to Santa Cruz or do the Redwood loop and chug lazily through the forest. It’s a fascinating glimpse into the history and ecology of this special area.

In the summer, Thomas the Tank comes to visit and at Christmas you can ride the holiday train. Check the website for special events throughout the year. 

After the train ride, take the stroller-friendly Redwood loop trail in Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park where you will find several trees you can explore, inside and out! The best is the Fremont Tree, an enormous Redwood with a hollow so large the whole family can stand up inside.

Food is available at the onsite cafe and there is a small store selling snacks and souvenirs. 

How to get to Roaring Camp Railroads 

Roaring Camp Railroad is easily accessible by car from Highway 17, a two-lane mountain road that connects Santa Cruz with Silicon Valley. Take it easy on this road, it is notorious among locals for accidents when drivers take the sharp bends too fast. Stick to posted speed limits and stay alert!

Before leaving, check out nearby Ben Lomond, a charming mountain town. Grab a picnic at the market or stay for lunch at local gem, Italian restaurant Casa Nostra. 

Muir Woods: Old-growth forest near San Francisco

Named for naturalist John Muir, the Muir Woods National Monument is the closest Redwood forest to San Francisco, just across the Golden Gate Bridge. The main trail is a boardwalk, perfect for strollers. Families can walk the half-mile loop or the longer hour-long loop through the forest. Both trails start from the visitor center. For families with older kids (or back-carriers), the visitor center can point you in the direction of longer dirt trails.

Before heading off on a a trail, go to the Visitor Center and ask for an activity book if you have a six-year-old or older, so your children can be sworn in as a Junior Ranger. It’s a fun way to learn about the forest and there is a badge as a reward.

Muir Woods is special because there are some old-growth trees here: pre-gold rush, the Pacific coast was home to over two million acres of Redwood forest, which can live for up to 2,500 years. Once gold fever hit in the 1850s, almost all of it – 95%! – was cut down for lumber. Due to its inaccessibility, this area remained relatively unscathed. So unless you go into a basement of a San Franciscan Victorian, you need to go here to see trees older than 150 years old in the San Francisco area.

How to get to Muir Woods

You can either park at the Muir Woods car park with a ticket reserved in advance (you will be turned away if you don’t have one and don’t rely on ordering one on your phone at the car park, there is no cell coverage!) or park offsite and use a shuttle.

If you want to buy a parking ticket, make your reservation here and make sure you arrive during your reservation window. Once you park, you can stay until closing.

There are three park and ride sites, one in Mill Valley and two in Sausalito. If you are using public transport in San Francisco, it is very easy to take a ferry from the Ferry Building over to Sausalito.

San Francisco looks great from the water and you will see Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge on the ride over. If you are feeling active, combine Muir Woods with cycling over the bridge!

If you are staying in the city, check out my post on things to do in San Francisco with kids.

Redwoods Empire

If you drive north out of San Francisco and keep going up the California coast, you will find yourself in the Redwood Empire, a mysterious land of fog and giant trees. The Redwood Empire is made up of several state and national parks along Highway 101, and this is where you will find the oldest and biggest trees.

It feels almost prehistoric up here and it’s easy to imagine you have slipped back in time as you drive by dripping ferns, shafts of sunlight piercing the dense canopy to illuminate the shifting fog. 

Trees of Mystery

Around Klamath, just across the border from Oregon, is the unique Trees of Mystery, a kind of Redwoods theme park. The admission fee gets you an interpretive trail with some good information about the trees and interesting sculptures, but the highlight is the gondola ride. After staring up at these trees, it’s good to get a different perspective and truly appreciate just how tall they are as you glide quietly above the forest. 

There are three trails, with the longest at one mile, so all easy to walk with young children. It’s a good place to learn about the trees and also Paul Bunyan, the legendary logger who stands 49 feet tall outside the entrance.

Avenue of the Giants

Humboldt Redwood State Park has the largest old-growth Redwoods forest in the world and you can see beautiful and unique trees here. Drive through via the Avenue of the Giants, a scenic 31-mile stretch of road parallel to the 101 freeway.

There are lots of good places to stop and admire the trees. Founders Grove is a great spot as you can check out the Dyerville Giant – an enormous fallen tree. Seeing a Redwood from this perspective really brings home just how big they are! 

The Eternal Treehouse is another good spot for kids. There is a cafe and gift shop, as well as the treehouse itself, which is a hollowed out tree with a door, and totally somewhere fairies could live.

If you want to sleep among the Redwoods there are 250 campsites in the park. We preferred to sleep indoors and stayed at the cozy (and affordable) Miranda Gardens Resort in Myers Flat.  

Drive-through trees

There are three drive-through trees in Northern California: Chandelier Tree in Mendocino County, Shrine Tree in Humboldt County and Klamath Tree in Del Norte. If you want to combine a visit to the Avenue of the Giants, Trees of Mystery and a drive-through tree, Shrine is the closest.

Drive through carefully – there is not a lot of room – and have someone walk in front to take your pictures. Be aware, larger cars may not fit. Our crossover SUV made it and so did our other group’s car, an Infiniti. As long as your car can fit into a compact space you should be fine. Entrance fee is around $8.

If you are based in San Francisco, Chandelier Tree is slightly closer at 3.5 hours driving time. All three trees are privately owned and charge an entrance fee.

Whatever your travel plans for Northern California, make sure you include a trip to the Redwoods in your itinerary – they are not to be missed!

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