Calistoga is at the top northern end of the Napa Valley. In Calistoga, you can ride around locally, or head off for some long-distance touring. Cyclists wanting to get in some serious riding miles before they partake in the Calistoga fun, can bike from Calistoga to Angwin, Middletown, Lake Beryessa, or Lake Hennessey. For each of these places, you can make a round trip in one day, coming back to Calistoga for nighttime fun.

Mt. St. Helena is about eight curvy miles from Calistoga on Hwy. 29. The trailhead is at the crest of the hill, about .3 miles past the sign indicating Robert Louis Stevenson State Park. There are unpaved parking areas on both sides of the highway. The trailhead to the North peak of Mt. St. Helena is on the west (left) side of the road. The first 3/4-mile of the trail is gentle (for the most part) with long switchbacks taking you through a forested area of oak, bay laurel, fir and beautiful (reddish barked) madrone. This section ends with a brief scramble up to a wide dirt fire road. When you come out of the vegetation here, take note of where you've emerged.

We guide small groups of riders through the beautiful Wine Country on healthy, lovingly cared for, and gentle horses in three separate sites in scenic Napa and Sonoma. Rides vary in length from one to three hours, and can go through open sunny meadows, cool shady redwood forests, and over bubbling creeks. Some of our trails encompass hilltop views that stretch for miles over the Bay Area, skirt world-class vineyards, and go by historic Native American and early California sites. Riders of all abilities are welcome.

During the 19th century this was a busy road, the trail was used to hauls supplies and ore to the mine camp at the top of the hill. There was also a stagecoach route which followed along this trail. When you are riding up the Oat Hill Mine Trail it is very easy to visualize someone struggling up this road in a horse drawn wagon or stagecoach. The path would be difficult, as the trail gets very narrow and washed out in places. Higher up the trail there are ruts carved by the wagon into solid rock of the trail. The mine was closed eventually and the stagecoach made obsolete by trains and later cars. The trail fell into disuse until adventurous motorists with 4 wheel drive trucks and jeeps discovered the trail. For the 4-wheelers this place was a great challenge. The trail was so narrow at points that would scrape the paint off of the side of the truck to squeeze past the narrow spots. Eventually in the late 80's this path was closed to 4 wheel drive vehicles because of fatalities on this trail.

Robert Louis Stevenson State Park is the place where the famous author of Treasure Island and Kidnapped spent his honeymoon in 1880. Although nothing remains of Stevenson’s cabin, the site is identified on the trail to the summit. The area features rough terrain, with evergreen forests in the canyons on north-facing slopes and chaparral on the south-facing slopes. There is a five-mile hike to the top of Mt. St. Helena from which one can see much of the San Francisco Bay Area. On good days the top of Mt. Shasta can be seen, 192 miles in the distance.