Russian River Valley Loop- #2 recommended moderate ride

Healdsburg, CA, US

Route Overview

Wine Country Bikes

Sonoma, California Bike Tours & Rentals

23 mi.
871 ft.

Russian River Valley Loop is our #2 suggested Wine Country Bike route from the Town of Healdsburg. Travel down the eastside and back up the westside of the Russian River Valley Wine Region, includes a few long-ish hills. Visit some of the boutique wineries along Westside Rd. We suggest bringing lunch with you as there aren't any places to pick up lunch along the route. We recommend our Lightweight hybrid ($49.00), aluminum road bike ($79.00), carbon Cervelo road bike ($99.00), or casual E-BIKES ($99.00). You can upload this route to your phone or device.

Route Details

Westside Rd with it's changing landscape and cooler micro-climate is a gateway to West County and the Sonoma Coast. Wine enthusiasts may find a few of the best artisinal wines in Northern California.

**We suggest you follow this link on your phone to create a free Ride With GPS account and automatically become a member of the Wine Country Bikes RWGPS Club. Installing their free app will then allow you to use turn by turn voice navigation on any Wine Country Bikes routes and download our routes and maps to your phone for offline usage.

This loop ride takes you south-west-north through the Russian River Valley area and back to Dry Creek Valley. The terrain elevation is similar to West Dry Creek Rd but there are a few longer hills along the base of the Coastal Range on the west side of the valley.

We recommend picking up lunch at Oakville Grocery in Healdsburg to take with you since there are no places to pick up lunch on this route. A few wineries along Westside Rd have really nice picnic areas- Hopkiln/Landmark in particular. This winery does have snacks to purchase such as cheese and crackers. The route has lower traffic and is a popular biking area but there are a few areas where you will encounter more traffic compared to the Dry Creek Valley route, in particular the final couple miles on your return to town.

The first leg of this route is all about the riding, reserving any extended stops until you cross Wholer Bridge onto Westside Rd. So if you have LIMITED TIME, ENERGY or PREFER JUST VISITING a FEW WINERIES with LESS RIDING, we SUGGEST RIDING OUT & BACK on WESTSIDE RD INSTEAD of the ENTIRE LOOP. If you choose the out/back option you can ride UP TO 9 miles one way so UP TO 18 miles round trip, you choose how far. If you opt to ride the loop you'll travel along Eastside Rd for just a couple miles and then cuts over to Starr Rd where you'll brush the edge of the town of Windsor (this helps avoid a very narrow section of Eastside), before winding through ranch, vineyards and pasture and back to the lower part of Eastside Rd.

Once you cross Wholer Bridge there are more than a few options for stops along Westside Rd. Below we've recommended wineries with regular tasting room hours except for Rochioli which is now APPOINTMENT ONLY but a good one for wine enthusiasts .

Recommended Wineries:

  • Moshin Winery, +1/2 mile Left side trip- small-lot, premium wines in a gravity-flow winery on Sonoma County’s famed Westside Road. *open to 6+ people group appointments

  • Porter Creek Vineyards, +1 mile after you turn right onto Westside Rd is a "very small" boutique winery with a very local feel- open to 6+ people group appointments

  • Hopkiln/Landmark Wines, +4 miles- historic building-grew/dried hops,offer some snacks like cheese/crackers.- Great spot for group appointments for 6+ people

  • Rochioli Winery, +4 miles-Appointment only & NO groups, wine enthusiasts

  • MacRostie Winery, +5 miles on Westside Rd- Hillside views & great deck-recently named 'Best Winery in Sonoma' by SF Magazine.

  • +8 miles from turn is Twomey Winery- they have amazing views from the floor to ceiling glass walls in their tasting room- Great spot for 6+ group appointments

  • De La Montanya Winery-offer many award winning wines including summer time rose, pinot & pinot blends, family farmed for 6 generations

**We suggest you follow this link on your phone to create a free Ride With GPS account and automatically become a member of the Wine Country Bikes RWGPS Club. Installing their free app will then allow you to use turn by turn voice navigation on any Wine Country Bikes routes and download our routes and maps to your phone for offline usage.

More resources

  • Please contact Wine Country Bikes- for more information on bike rentals & tours from the Town of Healdsburg in northern Sonoma County California.

  • Oakville Grocery Menu-pick up lunch at gourmet deli in town to take with you-we'll supply the frozen bottle to keep it cool in your bike bag.

Important Reminders

We recommend a lighter style bike such as our popular Specialized Sirrus or our new E-bikes.

Riding under the influence of alchohol is illegal and unsafe!

All the same laws apply to bicyclists as do cars therefore we recommend using the spit bucket provided in every tasting room and purchase a few bottles to enjoy later.

Always ride single file, stay on the road and obey all traffic laws!

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