How Do I Take a Tour of a Weed Farm?

The hottest new thing in tourism is cannabis tourism

The hottest new thing in tourism is cannabis tourism, and the hottest thing in cannabis tourism is cannabis farm tours.

There are lots of reasons why everyone wants to visit cannabis farms, especially the pot farms in California’s famed Emerald Triangle.  The Emerald Triangle is a region north of San Francisco in Northern California that ranges from Humboldt County in the north, all the way up by the California Oregon border, to Trinity County in the east, all the way down to Mendocino County in the south, on the border of Sonoma County, a short drive north across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco.

Here are the top 5 reasons people want to go on weed farm tours in Northern California:

Culture

The culture of cannabis country is warm, chill, and friendly

The cannabis culture of Northern California is renowned worldwide.  For generations rural hippie families have been growing marijuana in the ideal terroir – that perfect combination of climate and soil – for growing this sacred herb.  Despite what hyperbolic reality shows like Murder Mountain try to portray, the vibe in California cannabis country is chill and very warm and friendly.  Guests on our tours who got their preconceptions from reality TV, are always very pleasantly surprised by the chill vibe up in Mendo.

Expertise

Emerald City Genetics’ Master Grower Nepat (L), Jesse Robertson of Sticky Fields (C), and a very happy tourist standing next to greatness (R)

Because they have been weed farming literally for generations, there is a level of cannabis expertise in the Emerald Triangle unrivaled by any other place in the world.  There is just no substitute for being raised from birth on a pot farm that has been in your family for generations.  Because of that, you just can’t top the deep braintrust that the Emerald Triangle has.  I have often told guests on our 420 tours the story of a harvest party we attended up in Mendocino County, where some of the best pot farmers in the world were sharing their harvest.  We had tried the latest from Jesse Robertson, aka “Sticky” of Sticky Fields, and everyone, including the other amazing cannabis farmers, was impressed with the amazing quality weed he’d grown.  When they said so, Jesse’s reply said it all, “Yeah yeah, my grandmomma grew better weed than me”.   The weed farmers we take tourists to meet on our marijuana tours are very open and generous with their considerable cannabis growing knowledge.  That’s why everyone from professional pot growers from all over the world to casual pot smokers wanting to grow a couple of plants in their backyard have come away from our tours knowing more about growing weed than they ever imagined they could learn in one day.

Industry

California has a fascinating vibrant legal cannabis industry

Many people come on our weed tours to learn about the California cannabis industry.  Like the wine industry before it, California has a rich and vibrant legal cannabis industry that tourists are fascinated to get a deep look into, and going on a marijuana tour gives you a deep dive into California’s legal weed industry and how it works from the farms to the dispensaries.

History

Most of the modern history of marijuana took place right here in California

Cannabis has been with humankind since we moved from being hunter gatherers to an agrarian society thousands of years ago, but most of modern cannabis history is centered right here in California.  California was the first state to make cannabis cultivation illegal back in 1913.  William Randolph Hearst, father of yellow journalism, who ran his infamous propaganda campaign to demonize marijuana in his coast to coast newspaper empire, began his news career in San Francisco, with his first newspaper, the San Francisco Examiner, which is still in publication to this day.  California was the very first state to legalize medical marijuana.  The term 420 comes out of California.  So much of marijuana’s story is California’s story, and on our weed tours you learn about all of the fascinating history of this miraculous and much maligned plant. 

Natural Beauty

California cannabis country is one of the most beautiful places on Earth

If you love the beauty of Northern California wine country, you will be absolutely blown away by the incredible beauty of Northern California cannabis country.  The farther you drive north of San Francisco, the more intensely beautiful California gets.  From the coastal redwoods, to the rolling hills, to the lovely farms and vineyards, the Emerald Triangle is the most beautiful part of California by far.

So how does one go about getting on a cannabis farm tour?  Although the Emerald Triangle is much more open now than they were in the past, these are still working farms producing a very valuable commodity, and there are regulations around visiting a cannabis farm.  Visitors can’t casually pop onto a pot farm and look around.  Tours have to be organized by professional cannabis farm tour companies in accordance with county tourism guidelines, and in coordination with the marijuana farms.  That’s where we come in.  The guides at Mendocino Experience have been working in California tourism for decades, and we offer different types of experiences depending on what you’re looking for in a marijuana farm tour.  If you’re looking for an intimate tour of the farms where you get more one on one access to the herb farmers of the Emerald Triangle, we have a follow the leader Covid safe tour, where you can be in your own car, and meet the pot farmers in small intimate groups.  We also offer private tours if you’re looking for a one on one experience.  If you’re looking for an easy bus tour that will take you to the pot farms, wineries, and dispensaries Emerald Triangle from San Francisco, and have you back to the city in time for dinner after a wonderful day in cannabis country, we have partnered with Gray line San Francisco to offer that carefree experience as well, starting with our special 4/20 weed and wine tasting tour.  Mendocino County, bordering Sonoma County, boasts award winning wineries as well as award winning weed farms, and if you have a partner who is more into wine than weed, this is a perfect tour for the both of you. 

We make visiting California cannabis country easy, no matter what kind of experience you’re looking for, and your experience begins on our tours page.  See you on the farm!