Ten Things To Do in Santa Rosa, CA this Summer

Santa Rosa is centrally located in Sonoma County and the largest city by far (pop. 185,000). You may be coming for the cutesy wine towns of Sonoma and Healdsburg, but you're likely to be in Santa Rosa and maybe even lodging and eating in Santa Rosa. There are actually a few wineries/tasting rooms in town, but what else is there to do in town this summer?

Ten things to do in Santa Rosa this summer:

1. Visit the Charles Schulz Museum. As the saying goes, it's for kids of all ages. The museum is about the life works of the creator of the Peanuts comic strip and local resident, Charles Schulz. Say hi to Charlie Brown.
2. Take a brewery crawl. At last count there were seven breweries in Santa Rosa with pubs and at least 20 more in the county. The most famous one in Santa Rosa is Russian River Brewing.
3. Take a hike at Annadel State Park (moderate), Hood Mountain Regional Park (difficult), or Spring Lake Regional Park (easy).
4. Go swimming at Spring Lake. It's a good place for the kids BTW. There's camping at this park, too.
5. Go to the Sonoma County Fair (runs late July to early August). Kiddie rides to thoroughbred horse racing; corn dogs to Thai chicken curry. Don't miss the funnel cake. Or spaghetti from the Pasta King.
6. Visit the Luther Burbank Home and Gardens. Santa Rosa's most famous resident and horticulturist. The property containing a museum and gardens is a National Historic Landmark.
7. Take in a live performance at the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts. This summer you'll find Lilly Tomlin, 3 Doors Down, Jeff Beck, Wanda Sykes, Kenny Rogers, and several more shows.
8. Go out to eat. There is more great food in Santa Rosa then you'll ever have time to sample. American, Mexican, Italian, steaks, seafood, French-influenced, Thai, Chinese, pizza from a wood oven--there's quality food everywhere. I often get asked, "Where should we eat?" and I just smile because my short-list would contain at least two dozen restaurants.
9. Go to the downtown Wednesday Night Market -- a farmers market and street fair.
10. Visit the California Welcome Center. A great place to start at they can help you with selecting wineries to visit, restaurants to eat in, etc. They have discount coupons for many attractions.

Wednesday Night Market, Spring Lake, County Fair