Boonville
Boonville is a town in Mendocino County, California, in the Anderson Valley. Boonville has a population of about a thousand people (2020). The small village of Philo, six miles to the west, is a secondary center of activity when visiting the valley. Navarro, further to the west, just outside the valley, is also a possible destination for those interested in the Anderson Valley (this Wikivoyage page covers the entire valley, not just Boonville).
Understand
Boonville is home to winery tasting rooms, shops, and galleries. With its location at one end of the Anderson Valley, it's also the main place to stay if exploring that part of California wine country. It's also on the main east-west route to the town of Mendocino, on the Pacific Coast.
The wine industry is the dominant contributor to the Anderson Valley economy; the valley has its own AVA. Its producers specialize in Alsatian varietals (primarily Riesling and Gewürztraminer), pinot noir, and sparkling wine. (Information about 40 or so wineries is available at avwines.com.)
Boonville is perhaps best known as the source of the Boontling folk language.
Get in
Boonville is on California Highway 128. By car, it's about a two-hour drive north from the Golden Gate Bridge. Most of the trip is on Route 101, a limited access highway, but the last section, on Route 128, does feature some twists and turns.
By bus, the Mendocino Transit Authority provides transportation between Santa Rosa, California, in Sonoma County, and Boonville, via Route 65 to Ukiah, and from there to Boonville via Route 75.
Get around
A car or other personal vehicle is pretty much required to get the most out of the Anderson Valley.
See
- John Hanes Fine Arts Studio, 14052 Highway 128, Boonville, ☏ +1 707 489-0981, johnhanesgallery@gmail.com. F-M 11AM-5PM. Contemporary fine art created by more than thirty renowned artists from western states $100 to $17,000.
Do
- The Anderson Valley Brewing Company (see listing below) offers tours and has an 18-hole disc golf course.
- Hendy Woods State Park, 18599 Philo-Greenwood Road, Philo, ☏ +1 707 895-3141. 9AM to 5PM. Of the park's 852 acres, 100 acres have never been logged. The park includes 92 campsites, which can be reserved. $8 for day-use (entry of a motor vehicle).
- Mendocino County Fairgrounds. Hosts events throughout the year. In the past, these have included an Alsatian Varietals wine festival (February), the annual Legendary Boonville Beer Festival (April or May), a Pinot Noir Festival (May), the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival (June summer solstice), the Wool-growers' Barbecue and Sheepdog Trials (July), and the annual Mendocino County Fair (September).
Buy
- Disco Ranch. Th-Su 11AM-6PM, M 11AM-3PM. wine bar and speciality market, including tapas, and gourmet provisions
- Pennyroyal Farm, 14930 Highway 128, Boonville (across from Anderson Valley Brewing Company), ☏ +1 707 895-2410, info@PennyroyalFarm.com. Daily 10AM-5PM. A goat and sheep dairy, creamery, and vineyard located at the entrance to Anderson Valley,
Eat
Because of the small population in the area and the limited number of places for visitors to stay, restaurants are open on limited days and hours. But the food is generally good and the prices are reasonable.
Deli, take-out, and groceries
- Anderson Valley Market & Deli, 14175 Highway 128, Boonville, ☏ +1 707 895-3019. A great selection of groceries, fruit and veggies. The deli is very good. Homemade fudge.
- Boont Berry Farm Store, 13981 Highway 128, Boonville, ☏ +1 707 895-3576, bbf@pacific.net. M-Sa 10AM-6PM, Su noon-6PM. Natural food store, including a deli (salads, entrees, desserts). A few tables inside, two outside next to the highway.
- Gowan's Oak Tree, 6600 Highway 128, Philo, ☏ +1 707 895-3353. Daily 8:30AM-5:30PM (closes slightly later, June-October). Roadside stand featuring homegrown and local produce, plus items like jelly, jam, apple sauce, and hand salves. Try the fresh apple cider.
- Lemon's Philo Market, 8651 Highway 128, Philo, ☏ +1 707 895-3552. The nexus of “downtown Philo" is Lemon’s Market, a mainstay for more than 40 years. The sandwiches are generous in size.
- Mosswood Market Café & Bakery, 14111 Highway 128, Boonville, ☏ +1 707 895-3635. Daily 7AM-3PM. The empanadas are so outstanding, and popular, that if you want to make sure you can get some, you should order a day ahead. The breakfast pastries and the sandwiches are good, if you want something besides empanadas. (Also, try the vanilla latte.)
Regular restaurants
- Boonville General Store, 14077 Highway 128, Suite A, Boonville, ☏ +1 707 895-9477. Daily 8AM-3PM. Breakfast, brunch, lunch; patio seating outside. Most of the food is organic.
- The Company Kitchen, 8651 Highway 128, Philo. M-Th 4-7:30PM; F Sa 11:30AM-2PM, 4-8PM. A casual restaurant and bar offering burgers and Mexican fare.
- Lauren's at the Buckhorn, 14081 Highway 128, Boonville, ☏ +1 707 895-3869. Lunch F Sa 11:30AM-2:30PM; dinner M-Sa 5-8:30PM. Great burgers (veggie, too) and fries; speciality pizza and pasta. Taco Tuesday. And sometimes live music (check their Facebook page).
- Offspring Pizza at the Farrer Building, 14111 Highway 128, Boonville, ☏ +1 707 972-2655, info@offspringpizza.com. Tu-F 5-8:30PM, Sa noon-8:30PM. run by the team at the Boonville Hotel, serves delicious wood-fired pizza. Lots of outdoor seating, limited indoor seating.
Upscale
These two restaurants offer the valley’s most most upscale dining.
- Boonville Hotel & Restaurant, 14050 Highway 128, Boonville, ☏ +1 707 895-2210. Th-M 8:30AM-9PM, Tu W 8:30AM-7:30PM. In warmer weather, prix fixe dinners are offered Thursday-Monday evenings in the courtyard. Comprehensive wine list.
- The Wickson, 9000 Highway 128, Philo (Located at the Madrones lodging), ☏ +1 707 895-2955. Dinner Th-M 5-7:30PM (limited menu on Thursday); lunch Sa Su noon-2:30PM. Seasonal, "plant-forward" menu. Reservations required. Comprehensive wine list. (Tip: order the bread, both for itself and for wiping plates clean.)
Dessert
- Paysanne, 14111 Highway 128, Boonville, ☏ +1 707 895-2210. F noon-5PM, Sa Su 7:30AM-5PM. It's not clear that it's open, but if it is, it has tasty ice creams, cookies, brownies, coffee, interesting sodas, and sweets galore.
Drink
Wine
- Baxter Winery Tasting Room: Winemaker Phillip Baxter produces first rate single-vineyard Pinot Noirs, and his wife, Claire Baxter, oversees their small tasting room.
- Breggo Cellars Winery & Tasting Room: sit down, relax and enjoy some wine, take in the views. Time slows down here. Bring your pups and your picnic!
- Foursight Wines: produced using traditional techniques like wild yeast fermentation and unfiltered bottling
- Handley Cellars: the $15 per person tasting fee is relatively new. It’s also waived with a three-bottle purchase.) Well known for Pinot Noirs, Handley also produces appealing sparkling wines.
- Husch Vineyards: tastings are free. Offers wide range of well-priced wines at the rustic tasting room, including a terrific Chenin Blanc,
- Navarro Vineyards Tasting Room: the tastings are still free here, on the patio or in the garden. Known for Gewürztraminer, the winery produces a range of other wines, too, including Pinot Noir
- The Wickson has tasting rooms for Drew Family Cellars and Long Meadow Ranch winery, plus a stylish cannabis dispensary, the Bohemian Chemist. Drew Tasting Room: an exceptional Pinot Noir as well as Syrah, Chardonnay, Viognier and Albariño
Other
- Anderson Valley Brewing Company, 17700 Boonville Rd, Boonville, ☏ +1-707-895-BEER (2337). M-Th noon-6PM, F Sa 11AM-7PM, Su 11AM-6PM. Known for its microbrews. 30-acre dog and family friendly "beer park", with outdoor seating and a live music stage. Offers tours as well as disc golf.
Sleep
Hotels
There are fewer than 100 hotel beds in the entire valley.
- Boonville Hotel
- Philo Apple Farm, still a working farm, kitchen and collection of tastefully rustic guest cottages in Philo.
- Indian Creek Inn: Three renovated lodges decorated with artwork by co-owner Elizabeth Ashiku-Orr sit high on a hill overlooking the Goldeneye Confluence Vineyard
- The Madrones and the Brambles: At this upscale enclave, guest rooms and cottages run $275-350. the valley’s luxury option. Owner Jim Roberts built the Italian-inspired group of buildings as a residence and design business, and in 2011 he turned it into a small inn and restaurant (The Wickson)
Other
RV camping at the Fairgrounds.
Connect
Go next
| Routes through Boonville |
| END ← Albion ← | W  E |
→ Cloverdale → Winters |