Elaborate dioramas at the Sharpsteen Museum re-create the 1800s
resort town. The museum was donated by Ben Sharpsteen, who for
more than thirty years worked as a Disney animator. His Disney
memorabilia is on display, plus old photos, a Victorian dollhouse,
a stage coach and his Oscar.
A few miles north of Calistoga off Highway 29, in Robert Louis Stevenson State Park, steep forest trails lead to the 4,343-foot summit of Mount St. Helena. In 1880, Stevenson and his wife, Fanny, honeymooned on the mountainside, living for two months in the abandoned bunkhouse of the old Silverado silver mine––an experience that must have been a far cry from that of today’s wine country honeymooners.
He
described his Calistoga experience in The Silverado Squatters.
And, when he wrote about Spyglass Hill in the beloved children’s
classic, Treasure Island, Mount St. Helena was his inspiration.
On the mountaintop, views of Lake County, the Napa Valley, and
on clear days, the Sierra Nevada and Mount Shasta, nearly two hundred
miles away, can be dazzling. Spring and early summer are the best
times to explore the park, when red Indian paintbrush, California
poppies and yellow flannel bush are in full bloom. Winter days
may see a little snow and chill winds; in summer and fall, temperatures
reach the high nineties.
SHARPSTEEN MUSEUM
1311 Washington St
P.O. Box 573
Calistoga, CA 94515
Phone: 707 942 5911
Website: http://www.sharpsteen-museum.org/
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON STATE PARK
The park is seven miles north of Calistoga on Highway 29.
Website: http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=472
The article on this page is adapted from the book, Backroads of the California Wine Country by Karen Misuraca (www.karenmisuraca.com), published by Voyageur Press.
Photo Credit: The pictures on this page are by Lisa Moore. www. studioponderosa.com