Napa County Parks/California Department of Fish & Game,
Napa County
1 mile loop in a tiny preserve along the Napa River, where trails squeeze through a jungle of vegetation in summer.
Distance, category, and difficulty:
This 1 mile loop hike is flat and easy, although navigation at the river crossing can be tough.
Exposure:
Mixture of sun and shade.
Trail traffic:
Light.
Trail surfaces:
Dirt trails.
Hiking time:
Under 1 hour.
Season:
Nice any time, but probably best in spring and autumn.
Getting there:
From CA 29 in Yountville, turn east on Madison. Drive about 0.2 mile, to a T intersection with Yount. Turn left, then make an immediate right onto Yountville Cross Road. Drive about 0.9 mile to the trailhead on the left side of the road.
GPS coordinates* for trailhead:
Latitude
Longitude
(* based on Google Earth data, shown as degrees, minutes, seconds)
Gas, food, and lodging:
Pay phone, gas, restaurants, and stores a short distance to the north on Highway 29, in downtown Yountville. No camping.
Trailhead details:
No parking or entrance fees. Small paved lot. No drinking water, pay phone, or designated handicapped parking. There is a portable toilet. There may be maps at an information signboard, but there were none on my visit. Trails are poorly-suited to wheelchairs. There is no direct public transportation to this trailhead. Note that the trail is inaccessible during wet months, when there is no route over (or through) the Napa River, generally from December to April.
Rules:
Open sunrise to sunset. Single trail is hiking only. Dogs are permitted on leash.
The Official Story:
California Department of Fish and Game 707-944-5500
Fish and Game's Napa River page
Map Choices:
• Use AAA's San Francisco Bay Region map to get there.
• Afoot and Afield: San Francisco Bay Area, by David Weintraub (order this book from Amazon.com) has a great map and descriptions of a hike through the reserve.
• Great Day Hikes in and around Napa Valley, by Ken Stanton (order this book from Amazon.com) has a description of this hike.
• North Bay Trails, by David Weintraub (order this book from Amazon.com) has a good map and descriptions of this hike.
Napa
River Ecological Reserve in a nutshell -- a printable, text-only guide
to the featured hike 
View
photos from this hike According
to a pamphlet published by the 
Napa-Solano
Audubon Society, the Napa River Ecological Reserve "has become an
important habitat for many species of birds and other wildlife."
It's no wonder, for the 73 acre parcel has just about everything wild
animals need: abundant cover, food, and water. Valley and coast live oaks,
California bay, willow, and thickets of shrubs shelter birds, an astounding
variety of wild berries, nuts, and fruits feed birds, small mammals, and
even a host of butterflies, and the Napa River holds water all year round.
Since the reserve is a floodplain, you'll need to plan a visit during
the drier months of the year. When the river is full there is no route
across the waterway, and access to the reserve's
single trail is blocked.
Begin at the edge of the parking lot
on a path through a meadow. There areinterpretive displays
about the reserve's history and ecology on the left. Look for maps on
the second panel, although there were none on my visit. Chicory blooms
in the grass during summer months. After about 300 feet, the path climbs
onto the banks of a levee and splits at an unsigned junction. Bear
right.
After descending slightly, bear left
and walk along the rocky ledge along the river. Willows block a view
to the water, and you must search through the tangle of vegetation
on the right for
a path to the shoreline. There is no formal bridge, but tree branches
facilitate a crossing. On the other side of the river, the trail
picks up again, ascending to an undersigned junction at 0.13 mile. Stay
to the right. A short spur on the right visits the first post on a
self-guided tour.
Tall valley and coast live oaks rise up
from a dense understory of blackberry, poison oak, coyote brush, wild
rose, and snowberry. The narrow trail winds at a level grade along the
edge of a grassy meadow, then heads into a more shaded area. Leaves of
wild grape vines dangle from trees at a profusion rivaling poison oak.
Wild plum trees seem to flourish everywhere along the trail, along with
a few ash, buckeye, and walnut trees. 
Near
a bench the trail curves left and weaves through some California bays.
Gradually the trail veers left again, adopting a course along the river.
A few paths head right to the banks, though it's a scramble to reach the
water (watch out for poison oak if you give it a try). When I visited
in September there was a depressing amount of garbage on both sides of
the river. The trail pops out of the woods to bisect a small grassy area
with a few soaring valley oaks. After another stretch through bays, the
trail skirts the far side of the large meadow, then emerges, at 0.90 mile
back at the previously encountered junction. Turn right and retrace
your steps back to the trailhead.
Total distance: 1.03 miles
Last hiked: Monday, September 9, 2002
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