Glen Ellen and Jack London’s ranch
- Food
- The Fig Cafe
Crowd level: Easy. Busy only at the obvious hour
Best season April–June and September–October. Summer weekends in Sonoma are a traffic hobby. Go on a Tuesday.
Drive 1 hr 15 min
From downtown San Francisco, about 75 minutes via 101 and Highway 12 when the valley is moving. Summer weekends are not that.
Parking. State park lot at Jack London, with a fee. The town itself is a handful of spaces. Do not expect a city.
Glen Ellen is a few doors and a state historic park on Jack London’s Beauty Ranch. The Wolf House is a ruin of a mansion that burned before he moved in. Walk the ranch. Skip the valley’s more famous tasting rooms unless a friend dragged you.
The short version
London bought the ranch in the early 1900s and died in 1916. The Wolf House burned in 1913, an empty stone shell, and it is more interesting as a ruin than most completed mansions. The park is his experiment in farming as much as his fame. Read the signs. They are better than the myth.
Food nearby
The Fig Cafe
The Fig Cafe in Glen Ellen is the town table. Book it, because the town is small. A picnic in the park is the other plan. A crowded highway tasting room is the plan this page is declining.
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