DAY TRIPPING | Westward Ho!

Those with a smattering of classical knowledge may recall Julius Caesar once described Gaul (modern day France, Belgium, Luxembourg and western Germany) as being divided into three parts... kind of like West Sonoma County when you think about it.

For example, Forestville borders on the North County area with its mono-cultural, formerly oak-studded, wine grape empire along the upper Russian River.  Then, as one heads downstream, south and west, the area morphs into the redwood-enhanced cultural stewpot of the lower Russian River country (Guerneville and Monte Rio with an emphasis on post-winter, summer fun), stretching all the way to the coast through Duncan’s Mills and the river’s mouth at Jenner.

The third area might be said to lie south of the river, taking in the spectacular Sonoma Coast as well as the coastal redwood country west and south of Sebastopol. This section reaches down to Valley Ford and parts west with overlap into northwest Marin, say at Dillon Beach or even farther south to the historic town of Tomales.

For this inaugural Discoveries seasonal day trip, we’ll focus on this southern edge of West County. Outside of a few new, upscale houses and the beginnings of the wine grape invasion on its eastern and northern edges, this area still offers scenic and bucolic landscapes that have been relatively unchanged in decades.

This is a region that offers an enchanting visual tug--as well as more than a smattering of regional history for those interested in such things--for folks just going out for a Sunday drive, or better yet on a weekday morning when pretty much the only traffic is liable to be locals running their errands.

One way to get here is to head southeast from Sebastopol on Gravenstein Highway South to Bloomfield Road, following a meandering route through pleasant rural residential farms and homes. You’ll arrive at Valley Ford Road in the historic town of Bloomfield in the upper end of the valley of the Estero Americano waterway. Bloomfield is home to the equally historic Stormy’s Restaurant, an old roadhouse first established in 1854, a year after the town’s first house was built.

THE SPUD CAPITOL OF CALIFORNIA

Back in the day, Bloomfield had the reputation of being the "potato capital" of California. Word had it, according to local historians, that the "Big Valley Spud" was even better than those from Idaho, and was considered "the best spud in the U.S.A." Potatoes were Sonoma County’s first cash crop, much of it shipped downstream from Petaluma to San Francisco Bay.

Early census figures indicate Sonoma County in the 1850s grew more potatoes than any county in the state, with the credit for planting the first spuds generally credited to a couple of squatters on the Bodega Rancho, John Keyes and a lesser known partner.

They planted “taters” on the headland known then as Bodega Point in 1850 and bought a 15-ton schooner called The Spray to haul the potatoes (called Bodega Reds) from Bodega Bay to San Francisco until 1857. Hence the name of the current marina there, Spud Point.

Meanwhile, back inland, a right turn onto Valley Ford Road presents a scenic drive with dairy and beef cattle, horses, flocks of egrets, Canada geese, and ducks populating the spring green pastures much like they might have been 160 years ago under Mexican rule.

Continuing several miles, you will pass where Highway 1 turns south from Valley Ford Road. A mile or so after that leads into the town of Valley Ford, so named because of the old Spanish and Pomo and Miwok trail that crossed a much deeper Estero Americano just south of town on the way to Tomales Bay.

Valley Ford is another historic, small town blessed with a general store and post office. It also offers two dinner restaurants: Dinucci’s, which is old-time Italian, and Rocker Oysterfeller’s, a more modern enterprise housed in the historic Valley Ford Hotel.

Rocker Oysterfeller’s, by the way, lies just across the highway from the West County Design Gallery, where concrete artisan Pat Miller and wood worker Craig Collins show their unique creations along with a dozen or more other local artists. The town also features a small café, auto body shop and the Gabby Girl gift shop.

If you head north on Highway 1, a quick left at Dinucci’s onto Valley Ford/Estero Road will take you to Dillon Beach, seven miles away, another historic recreation spot that provides fishing opportunities, hiking and even a dog friendly beach on the northwest edge of Tomales Bay in Marin County’s upper west corner.

Valley Ford can also be reached via a different route by turning right onto Burnside Road from Bloomfield Road a few miles before heading downhill toward Bloomfield. Burnside, which runs along a ridge top of the so-called Merced Hills, offers special views of both Sebastopol and the hills to the east as well as the ranching country along Valley Ford Road to the west. It bisects Barnett Valley Road, which although lacking the elevation of Burnside, is scenic in its own right and, with a left turn, brings the visitor down to Bodega Highway.

From here, another left turn onto Bodega Highway takes one to Freestone at the bottom of the hill with a choice of a) continuing on to Bodega, b) using the Freestone/Valley Ford Road a mile west of Freestone to reach Valley Ford, or c) taking a right turn on Bohemian Highway to Occidental.

Choosing the route to Bodega brings you to the setting of part of the 1966 Hitchcock thriller “The Birds.” The old white church and the schoolhouse seen in the film are quite visible from the road, which runs right through the middle of town between the surf shop and the old Casino saloon with its antiquities, both living and dead, that entertain visitors. The church, Saint Teresa of Avila, also has a small cemetery.

Although it might seem remote from the old Russian coastal settlement up at Fort Ross, Bodega was the place the Russians tried to raise vegetables to add a few vitamins to their diet of fish, abalone and game. Rumor has it the gophers ran them out of Bodega and in 1841 they sold the settlement at the fort to immigrant Swiss captain John Sutter. Sutter’s attempt to build an inland California empire (supported by the Mexicans as a buffer between the Russians and the expanding Americans), went up in smoke shortly after gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma some 40 miles east of Sacramento.

Heading east on the Bodega Highway brings you back to Freestone and the junction of the Bohemian Highway which leads north to Occidental and nearby Camp Meeker.  Freestone is another one of Sonoma County’s historic hotspots, declared a “Historic District” by the county government in 1974.

The hamlet’s modern history reaches back to before the Gold Rush when Mexican general Mariano Vallejo invited three Americans to settle at the site, the Rancho Canada de Jonive, as a buffer between what was then Mexico and the Russians at Fort Ross, and who were busy trying to grow vegetables in nearby Bodega.

The site, located near an important former Coast Miwok village, earned the name ‘Freestone’ in 1853 for a nearby public quarry of easily obtained sandstone. The town was for a time also the terminus of the narrow-gauge North Pacific Railroad. Legend has it the proprietor of the local hotel (still standing in all of its Victorian-era glory) crept out each night to burn down the railroad bridges built that day in order for the crews to stick around. According to Sonoma County historian Fred Cook, the scheme put the enterprising hotel owner into San Quentin prison.

The tiny town is also a tourist magnet, with the Freestone Country Store in a historic 1876 building, the Green Apple Inn bed and breakfast, the Japanese-styled retreat of Osmosis Day Spa Sanctuary, the popular Wild Flour organic bakery, and the Enduring Comforts antique store among the town’s charms. Plus, there is the newly installed Freestone Vineyards wine tasting facility.

Winding a little further northwest along the Bohemian Highway (so named for the Bohemian Grove and club further along), you leave the pastures behind and slip into the shade of redwood forest. All at once, you’ll find yourself in Occidental, a village just a few blocks long that looks as though it hasn’t changed in decades.

Its famous eateries include the old standby Union Hotel, founded in 1879, Negri’s across the street, Howard Station for breakfast and lunch, and the fine Bistro Des Copains across Bohemian Highway from the hardware store.

Founded in 1876, Occidental was a stop on the North Pacific Coast Railroad connecting Cazadero to the Sausalito ferry. In return for donating right-of-way to the railroad, a local landowner named "Dutch Bill" Howard--who has a local creek named after him, as well as Howard Station, a downtown lunch and breakfast spot--received a lifetime railway pass, and the station (and settlement) was named after him.

The railway caused a rapid expansion of the timber industry, and by 1877 (including nearby Camp Meeker), there were six sawmills in the Occidental area.     

As a result of the train and timber trade, Occidental has been the home of family-style dinners for more than a century, after several women in town began cooking meals in their own homes for the loggers, train passengers and railroad workers.

Trains also brought vacationers from San Francisco.

One such rider was Bud Fisher, who in 1908 was on a train headed for the Bohemian Grove a few miles north when he spotted Jacques "Jakie" Fehr, a four-foot, eight-inch, grouchy Swiss-born shopkeeper at the Occidental stop.

Fisher, who is credited with creating the first successful daily newspaper comic strip in America, watched Fehr argue with a lanky local and decided to add Fehr’s character to his recently established “A. Mutt” comic strip as “Jeff”--half of the famous “Mutt and Jeff” comic strip and later a comic book that remained in syndication under various cartoonists until 1982.

Back in the 1960s and ‘70s, it was also the hub of community-centered social movements, giving rise to nearby communes such as Morningstar, Wheeler Ranch, and Star Mountain, the latter of which in some form still exists.

In addition to food, Occidental also has a high concentration of visionaries and famous artists, including musicians Tom Waits, Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, and painter Bill Wheeler, among others.

In addition to a summer farmer’s market, the town offers an organic market and deli, the Bohemian Market as well as supply of boutiques and crafts stores. Many artists and craftspeople live and work in the Occidental area, and each October they open their studios for the ArtTrails adventure.

The annual Christmas Crafts Faire is another local event where residents and tourists can purchase handmade holiday gifts and wreaths.

Occidental's Redwood Arts Council presents concerts of local artists and world-renowned musical performers featuring chamber music, international folk music, jazz, vocal ensemble and more. The acclaimed Occidental Community Choir performs its original music here several times a year.

As you stand downtown looking north, heading up to the right is Occidental Road, which will lead you up over the ridge past more farms and houses, big trees and picturesque views for your trip back to Sebastopol. Unless, of course, you’ve decided to stay in this scenic town to shop, eat and rest after a perfectly scenic and satisfactory day of touring.