The Silverado Trail is a scenic route that travels 29 miles along the Eastern edge of the
Napa Valley
Napa Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in Napa County in California's Wine Country. It was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) on January 27, 1981. Napa Valley is considered one of the premier ...
, parallel to and several miles to the east of
California State Route 29
State Route 29 (SR 29) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that travels from Interstate 80 in Vallejo north to State Route 20 in Upper Lake. It serves as the primary road through the Napa Valley, providing access to the Lake Co ...
.
History
The road began as a
trail
A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. ...
built in 1852 after flooding made the main Napa Valley road impassable. Later, it served as a wagon trail to link
cinnabar
Cinnabar (), or cinnabarite (), from the grc, κιννάβαρι (), is the bright scarlet to brick-red form of mercury(II) sulfide (HgS). It is the most common source ore for refining elemental mercury and is the historic source for the bri ...
mines on
Mount St. Helena
Mount Saint Helena (Wappo: Kanamota, "Human Mountain") is a peak in the Mayacamas Mountains with flanks in Napa, Sonoma, and Lake counties of California. Composed of uplifted 2.4-million-year-old volcanic rocks from the Clear Lake Volcanic F ...
to
San Pablo Bay
San Pablo Bay is a tidal estuary that forms the northern extension of San Francisco Bay in the East Bay and North Bay regions of the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California.
Most of the Bay is shallow; however, there is a deep water c ...
, the northern portion of the
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, California, San Jose, and Oakland, Ca ...
,
[ and was the first permanent road from Napa to Calistoga.]Charles Bolles
Charles E. Boles (b. 1829; d. after February 28, 1888), also known as Black Bart, was an American outlaw noted for the poetic messages he left behind after two of his robberies. Often called Charley by his friends, he was also known as Charles ( ...
, a highway bandit also known as "Black Bart", preyed on the road's travelers in the 1880s. Safety improved when motorized bus service began in 1910. A Phylloxera
Grape phylloxera is an insect pest of commercial grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America. Grape phylloxera (''Daktulosphaira vitifoliae'' (Fitch 1855) belong to the family Phylloxeridae, within the order Hemiptera, ...
plague and Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...
forced most but not all of the local wineries out of business.[
The area thrived with the growing prominence of California wine. One of the wineries on the road, ]Stag's Leap Wine Cellars
Stag's Leap Wine Cellars is a winery founded by Warren Winiarski in 1970 and based in the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley, California.
The winery achieved significant international recognition in 1976, four years after its establishment, ...
, made Napa Valley world-famous in 1976 when it won the Judgment of Paris
Judgement (or US spelling judgment) is also known as '' adjudication'', which means the evaluation of evidence to make a decision. Judgement is also the ability to make considered decisions. The term has at least five distinct uses. Aristotle ...
, a promotional wine competition
A wine competition is an organized event in which trained judges or consumers competitively rate different vintages, categories, and/or brands of wine. Wine competitions generally use blind tasting of wine to prevent bias by the judges.
Types of w ...
among French and California wines. Today, at least 40 of the Valley's more than 200 wineries are along or near the road.[ Each year in March, the route also plays host to the annual ]Napa Valley Marathon
The Napa Valley Marathon is an annual marathon, half marathon, and 5K in Napa County, California. The USATF-certified marathon course begins in Calistoga at the northwestern tip of Napa County, and then traverses the Silverado Trail, ending in ...
.
Major intersections
External links
silveradotrail.com
- Silverado Trail Association (industry site)
Map
- from Silverado Trail Association
References
{{reflist
Transportation in Napa County, California
St. Helena, California
1852 establishments in California