Napa County, Wine region county in California, United States
Napa County is an administrative unit in California stretching across valleys, ridges and waterways between San Pablo Bay and the Mayacamas Mountains. Most of the area consists of vineyards, oak woodlands and rolling hills crossed by small roads and scattered villages.
The unit formed in 1850 during California's founding period, when American settlers divided the old ranchos. In the 1970s the wine economy grew, and small wineries spread across the hills and valley floors where wheat fields and orchards once lay.
The name comes from the Wappo word for fish land, pointing to the early inhabitants of the valleys. Today wine culture runs through every corner: families harvest along the vine rows, winemakers guide visitors into small cellar rooms, and village shops hang handwritten signs for harvest festivals and market days.
Most public routes follow narrow country roads winding between vineyards and oak groves. Sun protection helps in summer, as the valleys heat up and shade is missing across the open farming areas.
Mount Saint Helena rises to 1323 meters (4340 feet) and ranks as the second-highest peak in the San Francisco Bay region. On clear days hikers can see from the ridge all the way to the Pacific coast and the Sierra Nevada range to the east.
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