Northern California Cabins and Cottages

by Tom Stienstra
432 pages, Avalon Travel Publishing; 2nd edition (March 28, 2006)



Northern California contains some of the most diverse and beautiful landscapes in the country. If you are looking for the ideal place to escape, Moon Northern California Cabins and Cottages is the resource for enjoying a Northern California getaway centered on outdoor recreation and a cabin or cottage. Your adventure starts with Moon Outdoors and author Tom Stienstra, the nation's top-selling outdoor writer and two-time National Outdoor Writer of the Year, who helps you discover accommodations from the Redwood Empire to Monterey and from Lake Tahoe to Sequoia National Park. Choose the place that's right for you, whether it's a romantic lakeside cottage, a rustic tent cabin, or a fire lookout station, and find details on each cabin and cottage, including location, contact information, rates, amenities, and special features. Learn about the range of activities-from horseback riding to fishing-available on-site or within a short drive, and reach your destination easily with precise driving directions.

From Tom:
Finding your Golden Pond!

The idea for this new book first came after watching one of our favorite movies, On Golden Pond.

It seemed to us that many people want to find their own Golden Pond, that is, a little cabin, cottage or chalet in a beautiful spot -- sometimes romantic, sometimes amid great recreation opportunities -- and always a private hideaway.

In our search, we found every cabin and cottage rental from San Simeon to Oregon, then added in a few bonus spots, such as a yacht (moored) at San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf and even a few fire lookouts in remote national forest. The result is a collection that ranges from some of the most luxurious and expensive accommodations available to some of the most primitive and cheap, as well as everything in between. Perhaps in these pages, you can find your own Golden Pond.

TIt was a perfect book to co-author, with each of us providing a special emphasis; Stephani often detailing the quality of facilities, Tom often describing the nearby outdoors recreation opportunities. We tried to make the writing seamless between us, and unless you know us personally, will likely be unable to figure out who wrote what!

The book features some of the most beautiful landscape on earth. In turn, the state can be divided easily into natural geographic regions based on this landscape. That is how this book came to have 11 chapters: The Redwood Empire, Shasta & Trinity, Lassen & Modoc, Mendocino & Wine Country, Sacramento & Gold Country, Tahoe & North Sierra, San Francisco Bay Area, Yosemite & Mammoth, Monterey & San Simeon, San Joaquin Valley, Sequoia & Kings Canyon.

The area with the most luxurious accommodations was Mendocino & Wine Country. The area with the most outdoor recreation was Shasta-Trinity. But each region offers something compelling and unique to make it a stellar getaway. A capsule description of each region and the cabins & cottages available their is provided as a forward for each chapter. The outdoors is good for the soul. Adventures can refresh the spirit. Yet the experience can be enhanced greatly by staying in a cabin or cottage. We can't think of a better time in California, enjoying hiking, boating, fishing or touring by day, then settling in to a little cottage or cabin for the night.

Who knows, maybe you will find your own Golden Pond.

--Stephani and Tom Stienstra