Homestead Trail

"Steep-walled Cold Creek canyon, on the edge of Lake Berryessa, embraces wildness and adventure. The Homestead Trail leads up alongside seasonal Cold Creek to the remains of an old goat ranch. From there stairs and switchbacks climb to the summits of Blue Ridge, with views down over Berryessa and out across the surrounding ridges of the coastal ranges.

This hike is challenging due to steep and/or rocky stretches and numerous ups and downs. You will gain and lose more than 1,300 feet in elevation on the loop."

--Tracy Salcedo- Chourre, Best Hikes Near Sacramento (Falcon Guides).

"Every hiker has yearned for the trail that seems like an all-you-can-eat buffet for the naturalist. Set in the Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve, the Homestead–Blue Ridge Trail serves it up. The Homestead Trail is an easy hike along an interpretive trail. Offering adventurous day hikers spectacular views of Lake Berryessa from the solitude of a ridgeline trail, this informative and physically demanding hike is hard to surpass. Start the morning walking along a seasonal canyon stream on a self-guided interpretive trail, which culminates at an abandoned homestead site."

--Jordan Summers, 60 Hikes within 60 Miles: Sacramento (Menasha Ridge Press).

"Lake Berryessa sits in the mountainous eastern side of Napa County about 40 minutes from Napa Valley. Monticello Dam, located 9 miles west of Winters on Putah Creek, restrains Lake Berryessa. Prior to 1957 (before the dam was built), it was the site of Monticello Valley and the small farming community of Monticello. The remains of the townsite are deep beneath the surface of the lake. Just downstream from Monticello Dam lies Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve, a holding in the University of California Natural Reserve System."

--Robert Stone, Day Hikes Around Napa Valley (Day Hike Books).