Town Guide · Napa County · Modern Love Living
Napa's spa town. Mud, mineral water, mountain cab.
The northern end of the valley — geothermal mud baths since 1862, hot-spring pools, the Petrified Forest, and the cabernet-mountain estates of Diamond Mountain and Howell Mountain.
The brief
Calistoga is what Napa was before Napa got famous, and what people who go too often to Napa now come for. The geothermal water has been bubbling here since the 1860s. Indian Springs has been pouring it into a Olympic-sized pool since 1913. Solage has the most considered spa in the valley. Sam's Social Club still has the bar from 1862. And in the hills above the town — Diamond Mountain to the west, Howell Mountain to the east — some of California's most distinct mountain cabernet grows. Calistoga is the trip for the body. Eighteen hours is enough.
What to do
Experience 01
The original. Volcanic ash, mineral water, the white-robed quiet after.
Experience 02
Indian Springs guests only. Geothermal, palm-shaded, the temperature you don't want to leave.
Experience 03
The 1862 bar, the dim dining room, the wood-fired plate.
Experience 04
A 3-million-year-old redwood grove turned to stone. Twenty minutes outside town.
Experience 05
Diamond Creek, by appointment. A pilgrimage cab tasting, well above the valley floor.
Where to stay
The legacy stay
Auberge resort. The most considered spa. The detached cottages with private patios.
The legacy stay
The historic 1913 grounds. The mineral pool. The cottages and lodge.
The boutique stay
Renovated mid-century, three mineral pools, the most photographable stay.
The inn
Restored 1860 cottages. Walkable downtown, breakfast on the porch.
Where to eat
Sam's Social Club
In the Indian Springs courtyard. The granola, the espresso, the pool view.
Buster's Southern BBQ
Smoke from the parking lot. The brisket sandwich.
Solbar (at Solage)
Garden patio, fire pits, the Cal-Med menu, a serious cocktail program.
Sam's Social Club
Wood-fired, the bar from 1862, a long pour of mountain cab.
Café Sarafornia
The 50-year-old breakfast-all-day diner. The locals' answer.
The tasting list
Calistoga
Sparkling cellar tour through 19th-century caves. A nearly-mandatory Calistoga stop.
Calistoga
A real medieval castle. Touristy, fun, the chapel-tasting upgrade is worth it.
Diamond Mountain
By appointment. Cult mountain cabernet, the kind of tasting you remember.
From the magazine
Self-Care · Calistoga
Twenty-four hours built around the parts of yourself you forgot to ask after.
Read · 6 min →The honest answers
Eighteen hours. The mineral pool, a mud bath, one good dinner, one slow morning. Add a day if you want to taste cabernet on the mountains.
Indian Springs for the historic grounds and the mineral pool. Solage for the modern spa and the cottages. Both right answers.
Indian Springs is the original. Lincoln Avenue Spa and Mount View are reliable mid-tier. Solage Mud Bar is the modern reinterpretation.
The Spice edit
For the long bath, the slow morning, the room you don't want to leave.
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