The Napa Redwoods
Mount Veeder’s ancient forest — and California’s farthest inland stand of Coast Redwood
Mount Veeder, in the Mayacamas Mountains of western Napa County, California, holds one of the largest remaining stands of Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) in Napa Valley — and marks the farthest inland boundary for the species in California. From roughly 1860 to 1930, the region was known formally as the Napa Redwoods, a name that appears in period maps, newspapers, and federal records. The trees are ancient, the ecosystem is self-contained, and the climate is entirely unlike the valley floor a few thousand feet below. Most visitors to Napa never see this forest. The ones who do rarely forget it. What follows is a field guide to the Napa Redwoods — their history, their species, and where to experience them today.
The “Napa Redwoods” — a forgotten name
From roughly 1860 to 1930, the high country east of the Napa/Sonoma County boundary was formally called the Napa Redwoods. The name appears on federal tax records, period maps, and early local newspapers. For nearly seventy years, the identity of this region was the forest — not the vineyards that would later define it.
The mountain itself was named after Reverend Peter V. Veeder, a 19th-century pastor and hiker who explored the ridge before it was widely settled. A small cluster of mountain resorts — among them Lokoya Lodge and the Mount Veeder Resort— operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, drawing visitors from San Francisco to spend summers in the redwoods.
By the 1940s, the name Napa Redwoods had largely fallen out of local usage, supplanted by Mount Veeder as the region’s defining term. The forest, however, did not go anywhere. It remains — quieter now, less celebrated, and still the inland edge of California’s coastal redwood range.
Why Mount Veeder marks the inland edge of California’s Coast Redwoods
Coast Redwoods grow along a narrow strip of the Pacific coast, from southern Oregon to a small pocket in Big Sur. They depend on coastal fog — not just for moisture, but to buffer summer temperatures that would otherwise stress the species.
Mount Veeder is unusual because it sits at the farthest inland point where Coast Redwoods still thrive in California. The reason is the Petaluma Gap, a low corridor in the coastal mountains through which marine layer from the Pacific drifts over the Mayacamas ridge. That fog rolls across the summit of Mount Veeder most mornings from late spring through early fall, collects on the redwood canopy, and drips down to the forest floor — a phenomenon called fog drip that functions as a second rainy season for the trees.
Below the redwood canopy on Mount Veeder, the microclimate is several degrees cooler than the valley floor. Summer afternoons at 1,800 feet sit in shade for much of the day. Summer humidity is higher, and summer temperatures rarely reach the 90s and 100s common in the town of Napa a few thousand feet below.
The redwoods are here because the fog is here. Move a few miles further inland, and the species disappears.
What species grows on Mount Veeder
The redwoods on Mount Veeder are Coast Redwoods, Sequoia sempervirens— the tall, slender species native to coastal California.
They are not Giant Sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum), which are a different tree entirely. Giant Sequoias grow only in the Sierra Nevada, at much higher elevations, and are stouter and shorter than their coastal cousin. The two species are often confused, but their ranges do not overlap and their ecological niches are distinct.
Coast Redwoods are the tallest trees on Earth. Mature individuals in coastal stands routinely exceed 200 feet. On Mount Veeder, at the inland edge of their range, the trees are not quite as tall as those on the North Coast but remain striking — deeply furrowed bark, limbs that begin only forty or fifty feet above the ground, reddish heartwood visible where old bark has shed.
Companion species on Mount Veeder slopes include California bay laurel (Umbellularia californica), Pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesii), tanoak (Notholithocarpus densiflorus), huckleberry, and sword fern. The understory is cool, damp, and quieter than the oak-and-chaparral woodlands a few hundred feet below.
Logging, fire, and persistence
Most of California’s accessible Coast Redwood forest was logged between 1850 and 1940. The Napa Redwoods were not spared. During the historical Napa Redwoods era, the forest was cut for lumber that built much of early San Francisco and Napa. What remained by the 1940s were the stands on the steepest, most inaccessible slopes — terrain where logging equipment could not reach.
Those are the stands that persist today.
Coast Redwoods are uncommonly fire-resilient. Their bark is thick, rich in tannins, and low in flammable resin. They can resprout from the base after heavy damage, and a scorched tree can recover from the burl— the woody mass at its root collar. These traits allowed the species to persist through a climate history of natural fire, and they continue to matter.
In October 2017, the Nuns Fire burned across parts of Mount Veeder. In September 2020, the Glass Fire returned. Both events damaged structures, understory, and many non-redwood trees on the mountain. The redwoods, however, came through: scorched in places, but rooted, sprouting, and alive. Walk the forest today and you can still see dark fire-scars low on the bark of the largest trees, and rings of new shoots at the base of those that were hit hardest.
Summit House came through both fires intact. The owners credit the surrounding redwoods — the fire-resilient bark, the dense crown cover, the damp microclimate at the forest floor — for forming a defensive envelope that slowed and redirected flames approaching the structure. On Mount Veeder, a redwood grove is not only a scenic feature; it is a living windbreak and firebreak, and the oldest, largest trees are among the most reliable you could have between you and a fire line.
Where to see the redwoods today
A handful of places on Mount Veeder offer access to the redwood forest.
Archer Taylor Preserve
The largest publicly accessible redwood stand on Mount Veeder. Managed by the Land Trust of Napa County and open for guided hikes by reservation. The preserve protects a significant grove of mature Coast Redwoods and a year-round creek, and is one of the best places in Napa County to see the species in a public setting.
Mount Veeder Road & Dry Creek Road
Both roads pass through pockets of redwood canopy. A slow drive along either — especially in early morning, when the fog is still settling — is the easiest way to see the forest without a permit.
Enchanted Hills
A private property near the summit, originally known as “The Cove” and later the site of a camp for blind and visually impaired children, operated for decades by LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired in San Francisco. The camp was damaged in the 2017 Nuns Fire and has been rebuilt in phases. The redwood groves that surround it remain.
Private ridgeline residences
A few private properties along the ridge sit directly within the redwood canopy and offer private trail access for guests. Summit House Napa is one of them.
Living with the ancient redwoods at Summit House
Summit House Napa sits at approximately 1,800 feet of elevation on Mount Veeder, on several private acres of ancient Coast Redwoods. A private trail on the property leads to the Enchanted Hills Waterfall — a small seasonal cascade fed by winter rain, reached in about fifteen minutes of walking through the redwood forest.
Mornings here begin in fog. The redwood canopy collects it overnight; by sunrise, the drip is audible. The air is colder than the valley. The light is filtered, diffuse, and slow to reach the forest floor. Walking the trail, the temperature drops several degrees under the canopy, and the usual sound of Napa — road noise, distant traffic, occasional equipment — falls away.
What makes the property unusual is the proximity. Five minutes of driving in any direction returns you to vineyard country, tasting rooms, restaurants — the Napa Valley most guests come for. But at the peak of Mount Veeder, inside the grove itself, you are in a different world entirely: the heart of a coastal redwood forest, with all the benefits of Napa a short drive below and the mystery of the canopy overhead. Guests describe it most often as mystical, and it earns the word.
The property offers 31-night monthly residencies, the minimum required by Napa’s short-term rental regulations. See availability and rates or read about life on the mountain.
Mount Veeder redwoods at a glance
- Species: Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)
- Range note: Mount Veeder marks the farthest inland point where the species thrives in California
- Elevation on Mount Veeder: roughly 500 to 2,000 feet on redwood-bearing slopes
- Protected area: Archer Taylor Preserve (Land Trust of Napa County)
- Private access: Enchanted Hills Waterfall trail via Summit House Napa
- Historical name of the region (1860–1930): “Napa Redwoods”
- Mountain namesake: Reverend Peter V. Veeder
- Companion species: California bay laurel, Pacific madrone, tanoak, huckleberry, sword fern
- Primary climate driver: marine fog via the Petaluma Gap