8 sites · Lodging, RVs, Tents5 acres · Hidden Valley Lake, LakePeaceful 5 acre private mountaintop (possibly an extinct volcanic cone) with 360 degree views of Mt. St. Helena and Hidden Valley at 1,250 elevation, with 4000-7,000 foot mountains all around.
It has inspiring ever-changing views above the vines, ranches, and Native oak forests facing Mt. Saint Helena, and the Mayacamas Mountains towards Calistoga and the Sonoma Coast beyond.
According to legend, a network of seven points of spiritual power forms a ring around Harbin Hot Springs, giving people who tap into their arcane energies the power to dream, see visions, and reach “between the worlds.”
This is a dormant volcanic region, and one of the most active geothermal regions on Earth. It's possible that this land is one of those points. And we invite you to decide for yourself.
A true and rare 360 view on a knoll -- you can see the Sunrise, Moon Rise and Sunset from various points on the land.
My partner and I have spent years traveling the Earth, and camping and traveling in vans -- the camping we offer here at the Hidden Knoll is exactly what we always dreamed of but never found on our journey. It's so close to conveniences--but also feels like wilderness nature.
The house had a dog run/kennel when we bought it, so we offer dog friendly camping. Some guests leave their pet in the kennel while they soak for a few hours at Harbin, as the resort does not allow pets. Dogs can also run off leash here, and they love it.
We have wifi, and a cell signal -- so you can work while you travel. You can clean up and get a hot shower. Cook a good meal with fresh, local ingredients--you can literally walk or bicycle to buy high quality, inexpensive groceries at two excellent stores and organic locally produced meat, bread, wine, honey and produce at a weekly farmer's market. Services are nearby so you can repair your rig -- a tire store, auto parts, hardware.
And you can even visit a hot spring or go swimming in a community pool, a natural lake or swimming hole.
There are 11 free places to launch a boat on nearby Clearlake. (You can rent a kayak). And several other small (clean enough to swim and fish in) lakes within 5 miles.
Women traveling alone will feel safe here, and can sleep soundly.
There are parts of the property where you can privately sunbathe on sunny days. We are 5 miles from Harbin Hot Springs -- close enough to visit on a day pass, and come back to cook or rest.
The air is crystal clear on most days, (fog is rare) and due to the absence of street lights, the stars are bright and you can sometimes see meteors.
POWERFUL, PEACEFUL LAND
Is it a vortex? A power point? Visitors say the energy is clean here and they feel relaxed, peaceful, focused and serene -- yet invigorated.
The soil is red, like Sedona, and sometimes when walking around you might find "Lake County Diamonds" -- a distant memory of the volcanoes that created this landscape. This is one of the most potent geothermal areas on Earth.
HAVE YOU DISCOVERED LAKE COUNTY, YET?
California's remote and little visited Lake County is somewhere in between the Wine Country, Sonoma County and the Mendocino Coast and only 2 hours North of the San Francisco Bay Area or West of Sacramento.
If you have an EV, you will appreciate that you can get here without a recharge. (There is an EV charging station at the Twin Pines Casino, as well as inexpensive gas here -- $1 a gallon less than you will find in the Bay Area.)
Lake County has remained isolated and iconoclastic, less concerned with the outside world. Many businesses here still only take cash.
Many locals are third generation farmers. The food here is amazing -- including local wine, honey, pears, grass fed beef, pastured eggs, olive oil, saffron, microbrew beer, and bread.
If cannabis is your thing -- there are legal dispensaries with some of the finest sun grown and organic on Earth.
There is an Italian and Mexican heritage -- so you will find wood-fired pizza, Mexican food and markets, and locally baked French bread and pastries--as well as old fashioned American wood grilled barbecue and roadside smokehouses.
There are few chain stores--most businesses are locally owned.
The dry, sunny climate, on the 39th Parallel North, ideal for growing grapes, is similar to other beautiful grape growing climates at this latitude, like Crete, Ibiza, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Sardinia, Turkey and Mongolia.
The volcanic landscape has active geothermal and hot springs, and a potent spiritual power much like the Big Island of Hawaii, Sedona or Mt. Shasta.
The red volcanic soils create a unique fertility and character and enable a wider variety of grapes than Napa Valley.
Due to geothermal activity, there is also a century long history of hot spring spas and yoga/meditation retreats here.
A spiritual community grew around several intentional communities -- including Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of the Transcendental Meditation movement, at (now defunct) Hobergs Resort. There are many devotees here of Vipassana, Osho, and the guru Adidam's oldest Sanctuary, The Mountain Of Attention.
Hare Krishna have recently restored Mandala Springs on Cobb Mountain.
This area was integral to the birth of the Human Potential Movement, and the Human Awareness Institute, the invention of Watsu massage, the early roots of veganism and the "Blue Zone" diet in Angwin -- and even the early work of Dr. Timothy Leary at Harbin Hot Springs.
We fell deeply in love with Lake County, the people and this land, and are excited to share it with you.
Our "Zen Farmhouse" Aesthetic
The furniture is made from reclaimed wine barrels, wine hoops, found objects, construction spools and shabby chic reclaimed wood.
Our "zen farmhouse" is the essence of the modern farmhouse movement -- it is high tech modern, but also simple, functional and unpretentious. It was lovingly re-built by hand by a master craftsperson the sparse style typical in the Lake County wine country -- repurposing and recycling old rusty metal, wine barrel hoops, barbed wire or barn wood into folk art.
We try to preserve the aesthetic and find simple, solid handmade repurposed furniture and art made by locals -- like tables from old spools, chairs made from found objects, old wine barrels, plumbing pipe and reclaimed or live edge wood.
A BIT RURAL, A BIT SUBURBAN
We are on the grid with lights twinkling in the distance and nearby stores -- but are also on the edge of wilderness.
Due to abundant food sources for wildlife, we have soaring hawks, eagles, deer, tule elk, migrating birds, egret, osprey, bald eagle, bats, owl, hummingbirds, bees, lizards and butterflies.
The red volcanic soil has an energy that feels energetic yet still -- much like the power points and vortices in Sedona.
At sunrise, you hear roosters and goats from neighboring ranches in the distance. At night, symphonies of cicadas and crickets.
MICROCLIMATE
Autumn brings Fall colors, new green grass, and temperatures in the 60s in daytime, 40s at night. Winter has sunshine and very rarely snow.
The Hidden Knoll is in a microclimate above the frost of the valley -- usually brilliant sunshine with vivid blue skies, but sometimes we get fog and mist and are in a cloud forest.
Bear with us as we learn how to host, improve the property and grow from your feedback.
We're just getting started.
In the coming months we hope to add an outdoor kitchen, outdoor bathroom, hot tub, chickens with fresh eggs and other community amenities.