The quaint town of Cloverdale is the northernmost city in Sonoma County- about 80 miles north of San Francisco.
Cloverdale offers visitors a friendly, small-town feel with oak-studded hillsides and a Main Street right out of Hollywood. Clovderdale offers the perfect mix of great location for exploring the Dry Creek & Alexander Valley’s in Sonoma County and the Mendocino Wine Country to the North. Here are some great places to visit and dine when visiting this casual & welcoming town:
- On Friday evenings in the summertime, downtown comes alive with the Cloverdale Certified Farmer’s Market and Friday Night Live. Vendors selling fresh local produce, arts, crafts and food share the space with an amazing lineup of world-class music. Bring your appetite for dinner, because there is plenty of great food available. Or, go to Pick’s Drive In, a blast from the past, complete with burgers, fries, hand-scooped shakes, malts and root beer floats.
- If you love fairs and festivals, plan your visit in the winter. Cloverdale hosts both the Old Time Fiddle Festival in January and the Citrus Fair in February. The Citrus Fair is one of the longest running fairs in California, the first one held in 1892 that showcased elaborate exhibits created with oranges and other citrus fruit. The emphasis is still on citrus, however the fair is now themed with entertainment and all the typical fair fare. The Old Time Fiddle Festival draws music enthusiasts from all over to hear some of the nation’s most distinguished fiddlers compete. The competition is only part of the festival – there is also entertainment, jamming sessions, a band scramble, food and crafts booths and a Saturday night dance.
Take a trip back in time with a visit to the Gould-Shaw House Museum, situated in the middle of town and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Run by the Cloverdale Historical Society, the preserved historic home is Gothic Revival, an architectural style from the Victorian era, rare in Sonoma County, and rare in its survival through time. The home is completely furnished inside and out to replicate the original house from the early 1900′s. Among the furnishings you’ll find a wooden horn Victorola, pump organ, wood burning iron stove; all sorts of things from the era. If you want to dig further, the museum is also home to a research center (open by appointment) that contains a plethora of information on Cloverdale and the surrounding area.
Cloverdale Historical Society 215 N. Cloverdale Blvd. Cloverdale, CA 95425 (707) 894-2067 www.cloverdalehistoricalsociety.org
- If you are into cycling, Cloverdale is a great place to begin a ride through wine country. A map is available of three routes, ranging from 10 to 50 mile loops, on the Cloverdale.net website.
- There are also many places for hikes and casual walks nearby. In Cloverdale there is a trailhead to Yorty Creek, a popular family area for picnicking, swimming, bank fishing, and boat launch for canoes and kayaks. Yorty Creek is part of Lake Sonoma Recreation area that has miles of hiking trails and is the perfect setting for hiking, swimming, boating, fishing and camping.
Cloverdale is home to other great parks besides Lake Sonoma & Yorty Creek. Check out one of these other parks for some great recreation:
Cloverdale River Park
31820 McCray Road Cloverdale, CA 95425
(707) 565-2041
http://www.sonoma-county.org/parks/pk_clvrdle.htm
City Park
450 W. Second Street, Cloverdale
http://www.cloverdale.net/index.aspx?nid=152
With Cloverdale’s perfect location for exploring wineries north and south feel free to explore the wineries from Healdsburg north. Here are two of my favorites in the Cloverdale area:
Cellar No. 8 at Asti Winery
26150 Asti Post Office Road Cloverdale, CA 95425
(866) 557-4970
www.cellarno8.com
J. Rickards Winery
24505 Chianti Rd. Cloverdale CA, 95425
707-758-3441
www.jrwinery.com
Now that you have explored this charming town, check out one of their great restaurants. Here are some of my favorite places to dine in Clovderdale:
Piacere Ristorante Italiano
504 N. Cloverdale Blvd. Cloverdale, CA 95425
(707) 894-0885
Ruth McGowan’s Brew Pub
131 E. 1st Street Cloverdale, CA 95425
(707) 894-9610
http://www.ruthmcgowansbrewpub.com/index.html
Pick’s Drive-In
117 S. Cloverdale Blvd. Cloverdale, CA 95425
(707) 894-2962
Tian Yuen
421 S. Cloverdale Blvd. Cloverdale, CA 95425
(707) 894-5697
www.tianyuen.net
Hello Beth,
thanks for sharing this very appealing presentation of Cloverdale. It sounds very charming. Thanks for the restaurants tips as well. At Fox Rent A Car Blog we also try to inform people about different cities, what they can discover there, as well as lodging and dining tips. It’s always nice to read personal experiences about different places before visiting.
Thanks again for sharing.
Hi Maria, Thank you for your note. It’s great to be able to share such a wonderful corner of the world, here in Sonoma County. Stay tuned for more posts about our travels around the area, I hope you get to visit soon while the vineyards are showing off their beautiful colors.
As a 22 year resident of this wonderful community, I can attest to the beauty and charm of this small town. My father, God rest his soul, used to warn me against the snares of living in an area where everyone knows everyone. But what he didn’t experience was the peaceful serenity of knowing you could walk the streets at night in safety, that the Mockingbirds sing into the night, that the deer nestle in the nearby woods, that both Mendocino and San Francisco are only 2 hours away. We have Lake Sonoma, the Russian River, wineries galore and great weather. Do I love Cloverdale? You betcha!