Thirty-five minutes from San Diego, and nothing like it.
Ramona has more than forty wineries, more than thirty farm stands, one of the best-known climbs in the state, and almost no traffic. We drew the map, so this is the honest version of what is worth your time.
The Ramona Farmstand Map
30+ active farm stands, many of them running on the honor system. Some are a folding table with a cash tin. Some are a whole barn. We built the map because there was no way to find them otherwise, and Farmstand.TV is where we go and film them. Ours, Mini Barn Market, is at the back gate of Red Barn Ranch.
It is the best single day you can have here: drive the loop, buy something at each stop, end up at a winery.
Forty-plus wineries, and you can walk to some of them.
- From the ranchSeveral wineries within walking distance of Red Barn Ranch. This is the reason wedding groups book here.
- From the retreatSix within three miles of Mountain Retreat.
- The wider valleyMore than forty within ten miles, most of them small and family-run.
Trails, rocks and one very famous photograph
- Mt. WoodsonPotato Chip Rock sits at the top, a mile or two from Mountain Retreat. It is the most photographed hike in the county and the queue proves it, so go early.
- Iron MountainMountain Retreat guests can walk onto it from our own trails. The public trailhead is a few minutes down the 67.
- Ramona Grasslands PreserveOpen rolling hills, easy walking and good mountain biking. Hawks nest there, and some springs National Geographic comes out to photograph them hatching.
- Dos Picos County ParkOak groves, a fishing pond, trails, mountain biking, picnic tables and a big playground. Walkable from Mountain Retreat.
- Mt. Woodson Golf ClubEighteen holes threaded through boulders and ponds.
Worth leaving the property for
- Safari ParkTen miles, twenty-five minutes. The tram is the point.
- JulianThirty minutes into the pines. Apple pie, gold mines, and snow in winter time.
- Downtown San DiegoThirty-five minutes. Guests never believe this until they drive it.
- The coastForty minutes to the beaches, which means you can do mountains and ocean in the same day and still be back for dinner.
We drew the map. You can have it.
30+ working farm stands on this plateau. Many of them run on the honor system, most of them sit at the end of a road you would never think to turn down, and almost none of them appeared on any map until we went out and made one.
Tell us where to send it. It is free, it is ours, and you do not have to book anything to get it.
- The map itself, sent straight to your inbox.
- Word when good weekends open up, before they reach the listing sites.
- Direct rates and offers you will not find anywhere else.
- What is ripe, what is new in the barn, and where we are filming next.
Send me the map
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Red Barn Ranch · sleeps 18
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Mountain Retreat · sleeps 14
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