Mount Saint Helena

This article is about the mountain in California. For the volcano in the state of Washington, see Mount St. Helens.

Mount Saint Helena (Wappo: Kanamota, "Human Mountain")^[4] is a peak in the Mayacamas Mountains with flanks in Napa, Sonoma, and Lake counties of California. Composed of uplifted volcanic rocks from the Clear Lake Volcanic Field, it is one of the few mountains in the San Francisco Bay Area to receive any snowfall during the winter.

Mount Saint Helena
Mount Saint Helena, viewed from northern Napa Valley
Highest point
Elevation	4,342 ft (1,323 m) NAVD 88[1]
Prominence	1,823 ft (556 m)[2]
Listing	California county high points 44th
Coordinates	38°40′10″N 122°38′01″W[1]
Geography
Mount Saint Helena Sonoma County, California, U.S.
Parent range	Mayacamas Mountains
Topo map	USGS Mount Saint Helena
Climbing
Easiest route	Hiking trail[3]

The mountain has five peaks, arranged in a rough "M" shape. Its highest point, North Peak, is in Sonoma County. The second-tallest, immediately east of the main summit, is the highest point in Napa County.^[5] The headwaters of the Napa River arise on the southeast slope of Mount Saint Helena.^[6][7]

History

Replicas of a plaque left by Russians on Mount Saint Helena

Mount Saint Helena has had an explosive history of pyroclastic flows that resulted in California's Petrified Forest.

Mount Saint Helena, originally named Kanamota ("Human Mountain") by the Wappo, and later Mount Mayacamas by Spanish colonists, was renamed by a Russian survey party who ascended the peak in 1841. They left a copper plate on the summit inscribed with the date of their visit and the name of Princess Helena de Gagarin, wife of Alexander G. Rotchev, the commanding officer of Fort Ross.^[8][9]

The peak is accessible by hiking trails leading from Robert Louis Stevenson State Park.^[3] The trails are approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) long.

Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson and his wife Fanny Vandegrift Osbourne spent the summer of 1880 honeymooning in an abandoned mining camp on Mount Saint Helena. Stevenson's book The Silverado Squatters describes his experiences while living there.^[3] A state park was named after him near here.

Representation in other media

The mount is described by Ambrose Bierce in his ghost story The Death of Halpin Frayser. Ursula K. Le Guin's novel Always Coming Home is about a post-apocalyptic society that considers Mount Saint Helena sacred.

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  Mount Saint Helena
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  Another view of the mountain
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  Robert Louis Stevenson monument in Robert Louis Stevenson State Park

Views from the summit

Panorama from top of Mount Saint Helena

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  Calistoga viewed from Mount Saint Helena
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  Northern Napa Valley viewed from Mount Saint Helena
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  A view from the mountain
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  Another view
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  Another view
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  View after 2017 fire
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  Snow view

See also

• San Francisco Bay Area portal

• List of summits of the San Francisco Bay Area