1. The Sharpsteen Museum
City: Calistoga, CA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (707) 942-5911
Address: 1311 Washington Street
Description: If every small town in America had a museum as lively and authentic as the Sharpsteen, maybe we wouldn’t be so ignorant of history. The museum was founded in the 1970s by Ben Sharpsteen, who produced such films as Fantasia and Snow White for Walt Disney. (Sharpsteen’s Academy Award Oscar statuette from his days with Disney gleams inside a special display case.) The crowning piece of his legacy is a 32-foot scale-model diorama that lays out the grounds of Sam Brannan’s Calistoga spa, circa 1860 (see the History chapter for more on Brannan). One of the original cottages from that spa serves as a museum annex. The museum is open daily from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission donations accepted.
City: Calistoga, CA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 1299 Tubbs Lane
3. Petrified Forest
City: Calistoga, CA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (707) 942-6667
Address: 4100 Petrified Forest Road
Description: It’s not as spooky as it sounds, unless you think too hard about the advancing wall of muddy volcanic ash that leveled these trees about three million years ago, following massive eruptions to the northeast. The trees lay unmolested until 1870, when a gent later known as “Petrified Charlie” Evans happened upon a rock-hard stump while tending his cows. The rest is tourist-industry history. A short loop takes you past all the highlights, including the Monarch, a petrified, 105-foot redwood with a diameter of 6 feet. The museum and store are open daily 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. (closing at 5:00 p.m. in winter). Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for youngsters ages 12 through 17 and seniors 60 and over, and $3 for kids under 12.
4. Tucker Farm Center
City: Calistoga, CA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (707) 942-0977
Address: 1201 Tucker Road
Description: Nobody is trying to be facetious here. It really is a theater, but for most of its existence it has served as a working support center for local farmers. The stage company, mostly Calistogans, performs original works in the summer, fun musicals and comedies in the spring and fall. The theater building, which doubles as a meeting hall or whatever else the growers need it for, holds about 120 patrons for most performances. Admission is $10 to $20. The center is off Highway 29, just north of Bothe–Napa Valley State Park.
5. Clos Pegase Winery
City: Calistoga, CA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (707) 942-4981, (800) 366-8583
Address: 1060 Dunaweal Lane
Description: Art is everywhere at Clos Pegase, from the winery itself—something of a huge modern sculpture—to French and Italian carvings of Bacchus tucked into the wine caves. The variety is impressive too, from granite sculptures to watercolors and collages. Clos Pegase offers a self-guided walking tour of the premises, as well as guided tours of the facility and wine caves at 10:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. (no reservation required). Among the pieces are a giant bronze thumb by Cesar Baldachini (designer of the “Cesar,” the French equivalent of the Oscar); Michael Scranton’s Wrecking Ball, an enervating installation in the Reserve Room; and a Henry Moore sculpture (Mother Earth) in the portico.
6. Ca’Toga Galleria D’Arte
City: Calistoga, CA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (707) 942-3900
Address: 1206 Cedar Street
Description: Escape into a world of Renaissance, baroque, and neoclassic styles of painting in Carlo Marchiori’s fabulous gallery off Lincoln Avenue. You may recognize his work—he has been commissioned to produce murals found in the world’s finest hotels and attractions, including San Francisco’s Westin St. Francis and Tokyo’s DisneySea. Beautiful ceramics and art furniture are the draw, along with more affordable gifts such as greeting cards. (Their intricate pop-up cards that unfold to make a stand-up gallery are always a hit when I give them to friends and family.) Marchiori also lives in Calistoga, and his Villa Ca’Toga outside of town is open for weekly tours in summer (see the Attractions chapter). The gallery is open 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Thursday through Monday.
7. Lee Youngman Galleries
City: Calistoga, CA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (707) 942-0585, (800) 551-0585
Address: 1316 Lincoln Avenue
Description: Owner Lee Love Youngman has long been surrounded by creative men. Her father, Ralph Love, was a painter from the early California school who has work hung in major museums. And her husband, Paul Youngman, is noted for his contemporary landscapes, architectural renderings, and marines. The gallery represents more than 60 full-time artists working primarily in traditional oils, watercolors, pastels, and casting sculptures. The gallery is open 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Sunday.
8. Smith’S Mount St. Helena Trout Farm And Hatchery
City: Calistoga, CA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (707) 987-3651
Address: 18401 Ida Clayton Road
Description: Smith’s has been raising trout for private ponds for six decades. On weekends the staff opens up the three-quarter-acre lake to the public, and locals have learned that it’s one of the best diversions in the area for children. The proprietors provide poles and bait, and they even clean and bag the trout for you afterward. All you do is bait, cast, and reel. You pay only for the fish you take—$1 to $6, depending on size. From Highway 128 in Knights Valley, just north of Calistoga, go 7 miles north at the big sign for Smith’s. On Saturday and Sunday from March through September, the fun lasts 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
9. Petrified Forest
City: Calistoga, CA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (707) 942-6667
Address: 4100 Petrified Forest Road
Description: The trees died a few million years ago, but they remain alive forever as stone sculptures of what they used to be. Paths wind in and out through the fossilized forest (see the Attractions chapter). Visitors can take a quarter-mile loop that requires about 20 minutes to stroll. Almost as interesting as the forest is the museum and gift shop, where you can buy all kinds of good stuff—stones you’ve never seen before and pieces of wood turned to stone. There’s also a good selection of books. Guided walks are offered on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. The museum and store are open daily 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Admission is $6 for adults; $5 for youngsters ages 12 through 17 and seniors 60 and over; and $3 for kids under 12.