Only a few obvious destinations remain in California once you get past San Francisco. Most of Northern California is dedicated to appreciating the beauty of the outdoors. The country’s best wine comes from just above San Francisco in wine country. There also starts to open up a host of wilderness areas, including mountains and volcanoes, rivers and majestic redwood trees. If you’re going north, you should make a point to incorporate some adventure into your trip.
Wine Tasting
Just north of San Francisco is the perfect Mediterranean climate for growing grapes. Many winemakers realized that fact years ago and have been creating some of the highest-quality wines on the market ever since. You can go to the area, which includes seven out of the 12 major wine regions in California, and learn the ins and outs of wine. Napa Valley and Sonoma are the most popular, and wine-tasting tours, bed and breakfasts, and even balloon rides are available throughout the area. Also worth exploring are a variety of specialty shops that offer cheese to pair with your wine.
Fishing
There are 10 major rivers in Northern California which offer just about any river activity you could imagine. Some of the best steelhead and salmon fishing in the world can be done in the Klamath, and there are great opportunities in several others as well. You can appreciate the sport from a boat in fast-moving water or fly fishing from the shore. And you can spend your time as close or as far from a city as you’d like. For instance, the Russian river is just north of San Francisco and goes straight through wine country.
Rafting
Another great use of the many rivers in Northern California is boating. You can choose a motorboat, but there is much more adventure to be had in a whitewater raft, a canoe or a kayak. The best place to find whitewater in Northern California is the Salmon River near the Oregon border, but there are plenty of places where you can take a milder and more relaxing river trip as well.
Mountaineering/Hiking
If you are really up for a challenge, spend a few days mountaineering Mount Shasta, a volcano more than 14,000 feet high. You should definitely come prepared for this kind of hiking, as it's about as strenuous as it gets. You could go a tamer route and still see a volcano, though, by visiting Lassen Volcanic National Park, which offers hikes of varying levels of difficulties.
Redwoods
The tallest living thing on the planet is the California redwood tree, which grows all around in Northern California. The Redwood National Park, near the border with Oregon, is dedicated to this amazing organism. The park offers amazing hiking trails that look out over the coast and over meadows and get you near plenty of wildlife such as elk and the endangered marbled murrelet bird.
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