420 Recap – A Wonderful Weed Farm Tour

There’s nothing like spending 420 on a weed farm!

April 20th has grown into a huge day in the San Francisco Bay Area.  In fact, this year it grew to an entire week with all kinds of 420 events officially promoted by the city of San Francisco, from book signings, to stoned scavenger hunts,, to political panels, to the big celebration on Hippie Hill, to our sublime 420 bus trip to cannabis country.

We’ve been providing weed tours for visitors to San Francisco and Bay Area locals since adult use cannabis became legal in 2018.  In that time, we’ve really honed an amazing wine tour style cannabis farm tour, exploring the industry and culture of California cannabis country.  We’ve hosted guests from nearly every continent on the globe, from cannasseurs, to industry professionals, to simply curious non-smoking tourists who want to visit a pot farm to see what this fascinating piece of previously hidden Northern California culture is like.

Gray Line San Francisco has partnered with us to run our weed and wine tours

This year we passed an inspiring milestone.  After years of national companies being afraid to work with us, we finally formed a tourism partnership with Gray Line of San Francisco, who provided the tour bus for our 420 farm tour, and will be hosting buses to Mendocino with us for our entire tour season!

It was a beautiful spring morning as we picked up our first passengers at the San Francisco Ferry Building, and went on to pick up the rest at The Cannery in Fisherman’s Wharf.  On the way we entertained and informed our guests with the history of San Francisco, California cannabis history, information on cannabis species, best practices for responsible pot imbibing, the origins of 420, and even Shel Silverstein’s epic poem, The Smokeoff, a magnificent yarn of a tall tale in verse that pits the world’s fastest joint roller against the world’s fastest weed smoker in Yankee Stadium.  

As we crossed the border from Sonoma County into Mendocino County it began to rain.  Three years of drought in California, and 4/20 was a Rainy day in The Emerald Triangle.  Though it caught us all by surprise, we really need every drop of water we can get in California, and the rain didn’t dampen our guests spirits in the least.  They were all ready for an exciting Emerald Triangle 420 adventure!

Shane showed us his farm animals on the way to the weed

Our first stop was the beautiful MendoCann Dispensary in Hopland.  Our guests were blown away, not only by the amazing variety of cannabis options and low prices, but also by all the art.  MendoCann and their parent company, The Natural Cannabis Company, sponsor an international art contest each year called High Art.  They announce their winners each year on 4/20, and some of our guests were so enthralled by the beautiful art pieces that they just had to pick up some of their favorites to take with them so they could remember this day every time they see them on their walls at home.

From there our guests went to the outdoor consumption lounge, and gathered together under the covered pavilion to wake and bake as the refreshing morning rain fell all around us.

Next we headed to the Hopland Tap for lunch.  By special arrangement, they opened the place early just for us, and they even gave us samples of their newest micro brew, freshly tapped in celebration of 4/20.

Shane set up a lovely toking area among the mother plants in his cannabis nursery

Then we hopped back aboard the bus, and headed for Redwood Valley, a stunning river valley traversed by The Russian River, and populated entirely by organic farms and vineyards, where we visited Tall Tree Society’s farm.  Shane, the owner, greeted us as our bus pulled up to the funky artsy house next to the single giant redwood that regally dominates the landscape, and introduced our guests to his farm animals before taking us to view his beautiful cannabis plants in various stages of growth, from freshly planted clones, to vegetating plants, to beautiful budding ladies nearly ready for harvest.  Our enraptured guests excitedly whipped out their phones, posed for pictures among the flowers, and even live streamed with their jealous friends back at home.  Shane set up a special tasting area out of the rain for us in his nursery greenhouse where our guests could sample the bounty of his labors surrounded by all the mother plants and clones.  After that, our guests got to see the hash making facilities, and learn how hash and live rosin are made.

Our last stop was beautiful Rivino Winery for some wine tasting

After our guests loaded up with Tall Trees Society tees, and flowers, and concentrates, and seeds, we bid farewell to Tall Trees Society’s farm, and headed down to Rivino Estate Winery in Ukiah for a tasting of their award winning estate wines.

At 4:20 we headed out to the parking lot, and had a celebratory toke before boarding the bus back to San Francisco, where everyone spent the trip back talking and making plans with all the new friends they made.  It was a positively excellent day in Mendo for our unique and exclusive 420 celebration.  I couldn’t imagine a more ideal way to spend 4/20!

Of course, we offer tours all throughout the season.  Come out for a visit and a day you won’t soon forget!