Long Canyon

Long Canyon is located in Napa County north of Lake Berryessa in Knoxville Wildlife Area. Long Canyon drains the north western slopes of Blue Ridge. See the Long Canyon map. This canyon provides beautiful opportunities for hiking relatively close to Davis. A main trail runs up the bottom of Long Canyon, staying near to the creek, but many other trails traverse the hills around the canyon. From Long Canyon, access can be made to trails atop Blue Ridge to the east and into the Fiske Creek drainage to the north. The best times of year to hike in Long Canyon are the winter or early spring.

Information about hiking in Long Canyon and other nearby areas can be found on Hiking Trails in Napa County, Napa County trailheads map and on Yolo Hiker. Look for the route entitled "Long Canyon Loop". The Zim Zim Falls trailhead is ~5 miles south of the Long Canyon trailhead.

Directions

Looking down Long Canyon at its west ridge. Lake Berryessa can be seen tucked under the hills on the horizon.

From Davis go west on Russell Boulevard or Covell Boulevard Covell becomes Highway 128 and merges with Russell. Follow 128 past Monticello Dam and the south shores of Lake Berryessa. At Turtle Rock bar, turn right on Berryessa/Knoxville Road. Follow Berryessa/Knoxville around the north side of Lake Berryessa and continue north into the hills below Blue Ridge. The road will go over eight low water crossings, which may not be passable after recent heavy rain. Park about 9.5 miles up the creek from Lake Berryessa, around mile marker #28, at old corral on the right side of the road. The drive is relaxing and the hike is great, but due to the curvy roads the drive is about a one and half to two hours from Davis.

View of Mount Saint Helena from the top of Long Canyon.

Snow hides in the shade behind a tree during a hike in late February.

2008-03-02 17:11:17   Long Canyon is really great. It's an easy hike, but your feet might get wet as there are multiple places where you have to jump across streams or walk through muddy areas. The scenery is beautiful. —FloridianPlywood

2012-05-28 21:32:57   Beware it is a long and laborious drive up there. This page originally had the drive at an hour. I was exasperated to find that it is really closer to two hours—which means I could have driven to Point Reyes in less time. GoogleMaps says it is over 66 miles from Davis to Long Canyon and many stretches of the road are slow. I should have checked a map rather than trusting this page! —MichaelPlotkin