Lake Sonoma Recreation Area

A teal lake and wilderness preserve amid golden Sonoma foothills 20 minutes' drive north of Healdsburg, scenic Lake Sonoma is the heart of Lake Sonoma Recreation Area (spn.usace.army.mil/Missions/Recreation/Lake-Sonoma). In 1983, the US Army Corps of Engineers built Warm Springs Dam for practical purposes, including flood control and irrigation – and the result was this sporting paradise, with a lake for boating and fishing, miles of trails for hiking and biking, a hillside archery range, and a fish hatchery that's helped restore Sonoma's once-endangered steelhead. It's around 6 miles northwest of Geyserville.