Robert Louis Stevenson State Park is a

California state park The California Department of Parks and Recreation, more commonly known as California State Parks, manages the California state parks system. The system administers 279 separate park units on 1.4 million acres (570,000 hectares), with over 280 ...

, located in Sonoma,

Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

and Napa counties. The park offers a hike to the

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for a m ...

of Mount Saint Helena from which much of the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

can be seen. On clear days it is possible to see the peak of

Mount Shasta Mount Shasta ( Shasta: ''Waka-nunee-Tuki-wuki''; Karuk: ''Úytaahkoo'') is a potentially active volcano at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California. At an elevation of , it is the second-highest peak in the Cascad ...

, distant.

Overview

The park is named after

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as '' Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...

, the Scottish author of ''

Treasure Island ''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure no ...

'' and ''

Kidnapped Kidnapped may refer to: * subject to the crime of kidnapping Literature * ''Kidnapped'' (novel), an 1886 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson * ''Kidnapped'' (comics), a 2007 graphic novel adaptation of R. L. Stevenson's novel by Alan Grant and Cam ...

''. In 1880, Stevenson and his new wife Fanny Vandegrift Osbourne spent their

honeymoon A honeymoon is a vacation taken by newlyweds immediately after their wedding, to celebrate their marriage. Today, honeymoons are often celebrated in destinations considered exotic or romantic. In a similar context, it may also refer to the phase ...

living in a cabin at a played-out mine on the mountain along with Fanny's son

Lloyd Osbourne Samuel Lloyd Osbourne (April 7, 1868 – May 22, 1947) was an American author and the stepson of the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, with whom he co-authored three books, including '' The Wrecker'', and provided input and ideas on oth ...

. Although nothing remains of the cabin, the site is identified on the trail to the summit. Stevenson's book ''

Silverado Squatters ''The Silverado Squatters'' (1883) is a travel memoir by Robert Louis Stevenson of his two-month honeymoon trip with Fanny Vandegrift (and her son Lloyd Osbourne) to Napa Valley, California, in 1880. Background In July 1879, Stevenson recei ...

'' contains stories he wrote about his experiences during his visit to the area. The area has rough terrain, with

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

forests in the canyons on north-facing slopes and

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranea ...

on the south-facing slopes. Robert Louis Stevenson State Park is located off State Route 29 between Calistoga and Middletown. The park is registered as

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...

#710.

2017 fire and temporary closure

As a result of a fire starting on Tubbs Lane in Calistoga, the park was temporarily closed on October 10, 2017.

Gallery

File:Monument on the site of Robert Louis Stevenson's cabin in Robert Louis Stevenson State Park.JPG, Robert Louis Stevenson monument in the park File:Robert Louis Stevenson State Park, close to road.JPG, The lower reaches of the park File:Trail in Robert Louis Stevenson State Park to the summit of Mount Saint Helena 3.JPG, Trail in the park towards the summit of Mount Saint Helena File:Trail in Robert Louis Stevenson State Park to the summit of Mount Saint Helena 2.JPG, Farther up on the trail File:Rock formation in Robert Louis Stevenson State Park.JPG, Rock formation in the park File:Trail in Robert Louis Stevenson State Park to the summit of Mount Saint Helena.JPG, Farther up on the trail File:Northern Napa Valley viewed from Mount Saint Helena.JPG , Northern Napa Valley viewed from Mount Saint Helena

References

External links

Robert Louis Stevenson State Park website
California Historical Landmarks State parks of California Parks in Napa County, California Parks in Sonoma County, California Robert Louis Stevenson Bay Area Ridge Trail {{NapaCountyCA-geo-stub