Santa Rosa is laced with greenbelts, city and regional parks. Howarth Park is a great stop for families, offering boat, carousel, train and pony rides in the summer months and easy leg-stretching hikes. Nearby is Spring Lake Regional Park, which has a swimming lagoon, horse trails and campgrounds year round. The superb Environmental Discovery Center offers multi-sensory, hands-on activities for people of all ages, with rotating exhibits focusing on different aspects of Sonoma County's natural resources.

With so much to see and do in Santa Rosa, an overnight (or several) is practically essential. The city offers a full range of accommodations from bed & breakfasts to boutique inns, budget chains and familiar national hotel brands. Santa Rosa's Railroad Depot is now home to the 11th and newest California Welcome Center in the state. Staffed by the Santa Rosa Convention & Visitors Bureau and stocked with racks of travel brochures and literature, the Welcome Center is a great first-stop resource for planning an extended stay in Sonoma County and beyond. "Traveling Bear" directional signs point the way to the California Welcome Center from Highways 101 and 12.

What's just beyond Santa Rosa's city limits? Stands of old-growth redwood forest, spectacular Pacific Coast scenery, some of the most cherished appellations in California's wine industry, organic farms offering "u-pick" access to their fields, charming hamlets and tiny towns, beaches, restaurants, cafés, bistros and more, all connected by scenic, four-season country roads.

Santa Rosa is indeed the hub of Sonoma County Wine Country - and much more. The Santa Rosa Convention & Visitors Bureau offers a comprehensive Website to help plan a visit; see the information box for more information and links.

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