Healdsburg Picnic Day: Dry Creek & Alexander Valley Itinerary

The easiest picnic day in wine country starts on Healdsburg Plaza. Pick up sandwiches downtown, eat lunch at a Dry Creek Valley farm winery that welcomes outside food, taste your way through Alexander Valley in the afternoon, and finish with a glass of wine on the Plaza lawn, the one Healdsburg park where the city allows it. About 30 wineries around Healdsburg let you bring your own food in some form, roughly as many as in all of Napa County, so you have plenty of backups.

Rules, hours and fees below are as of September 2026. The one booking that matters is a picnic table at Preston Farm & Winery; reserve it a few days ahead.

The route at a glance

• 9:30 a.m. Buy lunch in downtown Healdsburg.
• 11 a.m. Picnic lunch at Preston Farm & Winery, about 20 minutes' drive.
• 1:30 p.m. Taste at Trentadue in Alexander Valley, about 15 minutes.
• 3:30 p.m. Riverside break at Del Rio Woods, about 15 minutes.
• 5 p.m. Last glass on Healdsburg Plaza, about 5 minutes.

Drive times are estimates, so leave some slack, and plan on a designated driver.

Morning: buy picnic food around the Plaza

Troubadour, steps from the Plaza, makes seasonal sandwiches on its own sourdough and opens daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feeding a group? Costeaux French Bakery packs boxed lunches (a sandwich, a sweet, fruit salad and chips) that you order online two days ahead.

If you'd rather do it all in one stop with parking, Big John's Market at the north end of Healdsburg Avenue has a long made-to-order sandwich menu, a strong cheese counter and local wine, and it's open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day. Out in the valley, the 1881 Dry Creek General Store builds sandwiches to order until an hour before closing and has its own porch and back-garden seating.

Lunch: a table under the walnut trees at Preston

Preston Farm & Winery is a working organic farm at the quiet north end of West Dry Creek Road. Its picnic tables sit under old walnut trees, with vegetable gardens, orchards and vineyards all around.

The rules:

• Reserve a table on Tock. There's no table fee, but you must buy a bottle to picnic.
• Up to eight people per table, children included, for two hours.
• The table doesn't include a tasting ($35 per person if you want one). Bring your own plates and cutlery.
• No outside alcohol. Dogs reportedly aren't allowed in the picnic area, so ask when you book.

Save a few minutes for the farm store, which sells the farm's produce, olive oil, cider and wine.

No table? Try these instead. Amista Vineyards lets you eat your picnic at your tasting table (tastings from $40), takes walk-ins until 3:30 p.m. when there's room, and welcomes kids and dogs. Wilson Winery says outright that picnicking is encouraged, and its $25 tasting is waived when you buy a bottle. At Quivira you can book a table in a redwood grove for $50 (up to eight people, two hours), with kids and dogs welcome.

Afternoon: Alexander Valley tasting at Trentadue

Cross over to Geyserville Avenue, about 15 minutes away. Trentadue Winery says yes to picnics in its outdoor area for anyone having a tasting, a glass or a bottle. It welcomes kids and leashed dogs, takes walk-ins, and is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day except Tuesday.

Just up the road, Trione Vineyards & Winery, open Thursday through Monday, rents bocce courts among the vines for $25 an hour, each with a shaded redwood picnic table, and outside food is welcome. On a Tuesday, drive to Zialena on River Road instead: it welcomes dogs, kids and picnics as long as you buy wine, and seats walk-ins until 3 p.m.

Late afternoon: the river at Del Rio Woods

Head back toward town, about 15 minutes, to Del Rio Woods. This small county park at the foot of Fitch Mountain has a picnic area above a bend in the Russian River, with stairs down to a gravel beach. Parking is $8 outside the summer season ($12 in summer), leashed dogs are fine, and the park closes 30 minutes before sunset.

Del Rio Woods isn't on the county's list of parks that ban alcohol, so a bottle is allowed unless a posted sign says otherwise. That isn't true of Healdsburg Veterans Memorial Beach at the south edge of downtown, where alcohol is banned year-round.

Evening: a last glass on Healdsburg Plaza

End where you started, about 5 minutes away. Healdsburg Plaza is a one-block lawn under big shade trees, with a gazebo, a fountain and a coast redwood planted in 1924. Since a 2023 change to city rules, drinking is allowed inside Plaza Park. Keep the wine on the lawn, though: it's still not allowed on the surrounding sidewalks and streets, in West Plaza Park across North Street, or in the city's other parks.

For the evening spread, Journeyman Meat Co., half a block away, sells house-cured salumi and boards to go and stays open until about 7 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday (it's closed Tuesdays). There are no reservations on the Plaza, so bring a blanket.

What to book ahead

• Preston picnic table: a few days ahead on Tock, earlier for a weekend.
• Costeaux boxed lunches: two days' notice for Healdsburg pickup.
• Quivira redwood grove table ($50) or Trione bocce ($25 an hour): if you want a guaranteed spot.
• Groups: Amista requires a reservation for seven or more, Wilson for nine or more, and Preston caps each table at eight.

Rainy day or no reservation

On a cool or damp day, Wilson has covered, heated sections on its deck and patio, and Amista's tasting patio sits under a solar-panel canopy. If you couldn't book a table anywhere, Seghesio Family Vineyards, a few minutes from the Plaza, runs The Grove on a first-come basis: bring a picnic and a blanket, buy a glass or bottle, and settle in on the lawn. Kids and leashed dogs are welcome, though The Grove is seasonal and depends on the weather.

Famous names that don't allow picnics

Ferrari-Carano, Francis Ford Coppola Winery, Jordan, A. Rafanelli and Papapietro Perry don't allow picnics. At Lambert Bridge, bringing your own food is a wine-club perk; everyone else can order one of the winery's picnic baskets for its garden.