Articles — Surrey Resort
Surrey Resort in the redwoods

Surrey Resort Journal

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the Redwoods

Guides, inspiration, and insider knowledge from our corner of Sonoma County's Russian River Valley.

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Travel tips, local guides, and stories about life among the redwoods.

Aerial view of Surrey Resort in redwoods

Why Surrey Resort Is the Ultimate Forest Retreat Getaway in California

Luxury glamping in the forest has never looked quite like this. Discover why sleeping under ancient redwoods — without giving up a single comfort — will change the way you travel.

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Yoga in the redwoods at Surrey Resort

2026 Season: New Wellness & Yoga Retreats — Your Redwood Escape Awaits

For the first time, Surrey is launching a dedicated lineup of Wellness and Yoga Retreats, from forest bathing walks to sunrise yoga beneath the canopy.

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Luxury glamping tent at Surrey Resort

The Ultimate Luxury Glamping Destination in California's Redwood Forest

Nestled among ancient trees, where the Russian River winds through Sonoma County, there is a place where the wild and the refined exist in perfect harmony.

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Surrey Resort entrance at evening

Why Surrey Resort Is the Ultimate Glamping Escape Near San Francisco

Where nature, comfort, and genuine rest finally meet — 75 minutes from San Francisco in a luxury tent beneath the tallest trees on Earth.

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Pool at Surrey Resort

The Case for a Midweek Getaway: Why Tuesday is the New Saturday

How stepping away during the week — not the weekend — can transform your mental health, creativity, and sense of balance.

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Campfire at Surrey Resort

Campfire Cooking: Elevated S'mores & Fireside Recipes

From lavender-infused marshmallows to grilled stone fruit desserts, take your campfire game beyond the basics.

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Tennis court at Surrey Resort

Beyond the Resort: 10 Things to Do in Guerneville

Kayaking, antiquing, craft cocktails, and redwood hikes — your guide to the charming river town just outside our gates.

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Tents lit up at night

Dome vs. Fab vs. Fab+: Choosing Your Perfect Tent

A comparison of our three tent styles to help you find the ideal match for your group size, style, and budget.

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Aerial view of Surrey Resort

Seasonal Sonoma: What to Expect Month by Month

From spring wildflowers to autumn harvests, here's what makes each season along the Russian River uniquely special.

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Aerial view of Surrey Resort
Glamping

Why Surrey Resort Is the Ultimate Forest Retreat Getaway in California

March 202615 min read

Luxury glamping in the forest has never looked quite like this.

There is a particular kind of exhale that happens when you arrive at Surrey Resort. You turn off CA-116 in Guerneville, California, step out of your car, and the air hits you differently — cool, clean, faintly sweet with the scent of ancient wood and living earth. The noise of city life doesn't fade here; it simply stops. That exhale is the whole point, and Surrey Resort has quietly mastered the art of making it happen.

Tucked into three private, serene acres in Sonoma County's Russian River Valley, Surrey Resort is a luxury glamping destination that delivers something increasingly rare in the modern world: genuine, full-body rest — without asking you to give up a single comfort to get it. This is not roughing it. This is the forest, upgraded.

Why Glamping Is Amazing

Let's start with the honest question most people ask: Is glamping actually worth it?

The answer is yes — and the reason is surprisingly simple. Traditional camping asks you to trade comfort for nature. A hotel asks you to trade nature for comfort. Glamping, when done right, refuses that trade entirely. Surrey Resort is proof that the trade was never necessary to begin with.

Here, luxury tents sit on raised wooden decks beneath towering old-growth redwoods. Each tent is furnished, temperature-adaptable, wired with electricity and Wi-Fi, equipped with a mini-fridge, and flanked by a private outdoor fire pit. The zippered net windows mean you fall asleep to the sound of the forest while staying warm, dry, and comfortable. You wake up to birdsong, not a hotel hallway. You step outside to your fire pit, not a parking lot.

Private fire pits at Surrey Resort

Private fire pits at every tent — Surrey Resort, Guerneville CA

This is what makes glamping in the redwoods so profoundly different from any other kind of travel. The ancient coastal redwoods of Sonoma County — some of the tallest living organisms on Earth — create a cathedral-like canopy that is simply impossible to replicate indoors. The light filters differently. The air moves differently. Time slows in a way that no spa or five-star lobby can manufacture.

Surrey Resort offers three thoughtfully designed tent styles — the compact, panoramic-view Dome Tent for couples and solo travelers, the spacious Fab+ for families and small groups, and the stylish Fab Tent with its twin-bed configuration and majestic redwood views. Each one is a considered, comfortable space designed to disappear into its surroundings rather than compete with them.

Beyond the tents, Surrey's amenities elevate the stay to full resort status: a stunning crystal-blue pool surrounded by redwoods, a year-round outdoor hot tub, a fully equipped fitness center, an on-site café and bar serving fresh food, charcuterie, wine, and beer, and a Grand Hall for events and gatherings. Whether you want to be active or do absolutely nothing, Surrey supports both with equal conviction.

Proven by Guests

Surrey Resort is not a new concept looking for validation. It is an established, operating destination with a growing and loyal guest base, and the evidence is in the details.

The resort books through a professional hospitality platform, runs a structured seasonal calendar (March through November), and has the operational infrastructure of a full-service property: daily café hours, gym memberships, day-pass pricing, a functioning booking engine, and a dedicated events program. This is not a pop-up or a passion project. It is a real, running resort.

Three serene acres in Sonoma's redwood forest

Three serene acres in Sonoma's redwood forest

Guest reviews across Google and Expedia consistently return five-star ratings and 10/10 scores. First-time glampers report it exceeded every expectation. Repeat visitors describe it as one of their favorite places in town — returning not just for the glamping experience, but for the gym, the pool, and the quiet ritual of being somewhere that genuinely takes care of them.

The 2026 season opened reservations months in advance, with March 15th as the official opening date, signaling not just demand but forward-planning confidence. Events like the Wild Alchemy Yoga + Sound Ceremony and Morning Yoga Beneath the Redwoods draw wellness-oriented visitors beyond the glamping audience, building a community around the resort's identity rather than just its rooms.

Trustworthy & Transparent

Trust in a hospitality experience comes from consistency, transparency, and how a property makes you feel before you even arrive. Surrey earns it on all three.

The website is honest and specific. There are no vague promises about "magical experiences" without substance behind them. You know exactly what each tent includes — bed sizes, amenities, deck height, views. You know the pricing for the pool day pass ($35), the hot tub ($15), the gym membership ($69). You know the address, the phone number, and the email. You know the opening date of the season. This level of transparency is rare and reassuring.

Guest reviews are sourced from verified platforms — Google and Expedia — not curated testimonials on a proprietary page. The voices are varied: a first-time glamper (Debra), a family with a two-year-old (Javier), a solo wellness-oriented regular (Reese), a couple who wished they'd stayed longer (Andrew). These are real people describing real experiences across multiple seasons and years.

The staff is mentioned across reviews consistently — described as exceptional, attentive, and part of what makes the experience memorable. In hospitality, staff quality is the final proof of trustworthiness, and Surrey's guests return to it consistently.

A Full Resort Experience

Setting. Surrey sits on three private acres in the heart of the Russian River Valley redwood forest, with vineyard views, river access within walking distance, and the Pacific coast 30 minutes away. The natural setting alone puts it among the most beautiful properties in Northern California.

Accommodations. Three distinct tent types — Dome, Fab, and Fab+ — each on raised decks, each with electricity, Wi-Fi, fire pit, and considered furnishings. These are not camping tents with cots. They are living spaces that happen to be in the forest.

Resort-style pool surrounded by redwoods

Resort-style pool surrounded by redwoods — a rare combination

Food and Beverage. An on-site café and bar open daily, serving fresh snacks, sandwiches, curated charcuterie boards, wine, beer, and alcohol-removed options. Headache-free coffee in the morning with a view of redwoods is not a small thing — it is, for many guests, the memory they carry home.

Recreation. Resort-style pool with private cabanas, year-round hot tub, full fitness center, yoga, pickleball, tennis, cycling, and proximity to kayaking, hiking, wine tasting, and fine dining in Guerneville and beyond.

Events. A Grand Hall for weddings, corporate retreats, family reunions, and wellness events. A large outdoor screen and projector for group experiences. Flexible indoor/outdoor ceremony and reception spaces.

Service. Consistently praised across every review platform as exceptional, attentive, and genuinely warm.

This is a luxury glamping in the forest experience that functions — in every measurable way — as a full resort. The fact that you sleep under canvas beneath ancient trees is the bonus, not the compromise.

How Glamping at Surrey Improves Your Health

This is where the conversation gets genuinely important, because the health benefits of a stay in the redwood forest are not metaphorical. They are physiological, psychological, and increasingly well-documented.

Forest Bathing (Shinrin-yoku). The Japanese practice of spending mindful time in forests has been studied extensively for its health outcomes. Research consistently shows that time among trees reduces cortisol levels, lowers blood pressure, boosts immune function through the inhalation of phytoncides (airborne compounds released by trees), and improves mood and cognitive clarity. The old-growth redwoods at Surrey are among the most potent environments on Earth for this effect.

Disconnection from Chronic Stress. The leading driver of modern illness — cardiovascular disease, poor sleep, anxiety, digestive issues, chronic inflammation — is prolonged stress activation. A forest retreat getaway like Surrey disrupts this cycle in ways that a hotel in a city simply cannot. When your environment is gentle, beautiful, quiet, and free of the visual and auditory noise of urban life, your nervous system genuinely downregulates.

Yoga beneath the redwoods

Yoga beneath the redwoods — mind, body, and forest air in harmony

Sleep Quality. Surrey guests sleep differently. The canvas tent environment, the absence of light pollution, the sound of wind through redwoods instead of traffic, the fresh forest air — all of these cues signal safety to a nervous system that has been in low-grade alert mode for months. Deep, restorative sleep is not a luxury. It is the foundation of every health outcome, and Surrey's setting makes it almost automatic.

Movement Without Obligation. Surrey offers kayaking, hiking, yoga, tennis, pickleball, cycling, a fitness center, and swimming — but none of it feels like exercise. It feels like living. This distinction matters enormously for people who have developed a fraught relationship with their bodies and with health culture.

Social and Emotional Wellbeing. Shared fire pits, communal meals, family reunion spaces, corporate retreat programming — Surrey is designed for meaningful human connection in a setting that naturally encourages it. The research on loneliness and isolation as health risks is unambiguous. Surrey is an antidote.

The Gateway to All of Northern California

Surrey Resort is not just a destination in itself — it is the perfect base for exploring one of the richest travel regions in the United States.

For San Francisco seekers, Surrey is 75 minutes north — close enough to drive after work on a Friday, far enough to feel genuinely away by the time you arrive. It offers the countryside antidote to the city without requiring a flight.

For Sonoma enthusiasts, Surrey sits in the heart of Sonoma County's Russian River Valley, one of the world's most celebrated wine appellations. World-class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wineries are neighbors. Farm-to-table restaurants in Guerneville are within walking distance.

For Napa lovers who want to expand beyond the Napa Valley, Surrey offers access to Sonoma's more understated, terroir-driven wine country — often considered by connoisseurs to be Napa's equal, and by many to be its superior in terms of authenticity and access.

Fresh food, wine, charcuterie — the Surrey café experience

Fresh food, wine, charcuterie — the Surrey café experience

For California travel broadly — anyone working their way through the state's remarkable diversity of landscapes — Surrey represents Northern California at its most essential: redwood forest, river, ocean coast, vineyard, and community, all within a 30-minute radius.


Surrey Resort is a glamping in the redwoods experience that operates at the intersection of genuine luxury and genuine nature — and it refuses to compromise either. It is proven by its guests, trusted for its transparency, reputable in one of the world's great travel destinations, and built to deliver real health and wellness outcomes alongside extraordinary beauty.

If you are within driving distance of San Francisco, Sonoma, or Napa — or if you are planning a California trip and looking for the single stay that will define the journey — Surrey Resort is your answer.

Wake up beneath ancient redwoods. Drink your coffee by the fire. Let the forest do what cities cannot. Then wonder why it took you so long to get here.

Surrey Resort — Russian River Glamping
16590 CA-116, Guerneville, CA 95446
(707) 604-4026 | surreyrr.com
Season: March 15 – November · 75 minutes from San Francisco

Ready to experience it for yourself?

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Luxury glamping tent at Surrey Resort
Glamping

Surrey Resort: The Ultimate Luxury Glamping Destination in California's Redwood Forest

March 202618 min read

Nestled among ancient trees, where the Russian River winds through Sonoma County, there is a place where the wild and the refined exist in perfect harmony. This is Surrey Resort — and it just might be the most extraordinary forest resort in California.

Why Glamping Is the Travel Experience You've Been Waiting For

There is a moment that every traveler knows — the one where the hotel room feels sterile, the city feels relentless, and something deep inside you craves earth, air, and silence. Glamping answers that call without asking you to sacrifice a single comfort.

Glamping — the seamless marriage of glamour and camping — has exploded into one of the fastest-growing categories in the travel industry, and for good reason. Unlike traditional camping, which demands tolerance for discomfort, glamping delivers the full sensory gift of nature: birdsong at dawn, the smell of pine and redwood, open skies, fire, and starlight — paired with a real bed, electricity, Wi-Fi, and thoughtfully curated amenities. It is the best of both worlds, and once experienced, it is impossible to go back.

For Bay Area professionals, families, and creatives seeking a genuine reset — and for those escaping the relentless pace of Silicon Valley — the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County represents a rare alignment of landscape, accessibility, and experience. The ancient coastal redwoods form a cathedral canopy overhead. The Russian River flows nearby, clean and gentle. Wine country begins at the property line. The Pacific Ocean is barely thirty minutes away. And at the center of it all sits Surrey Resort, offering a luxury stay in the forest unlike anything else the state has to offer.

Three Serene Acres of Proven Excellence

Surrey Resort isn't new to this. Situated at 16590 CA-116 in Guerneville, California, the resort has welcomed guests across multiple seasons, building a track record of consistently five-star experiences that speaks for itself.

Three serene acres in Sonoma's redwood forest

Three serene acres in Sonoma's redwood forest

What makes this secluded forest resort exceptional isn't one thing — it's the accumulation of hundreds of considered decisions made on behalf of guests. The canvas tents are set on raised decks so you feel the forest without touching the ground. Every single tent has its own private outdoor fire pit, because an evening in the redwoods without a fire isn't really an evening in the redwoods. Electricity and Wi-Fi are standard throughout, because a retreat shouldn't require you to lose connection with the people you love back home — only with the noise that exhausts you.

The resort covers three private acres, meaning the property feels spacious, unhurried, and genuinely secluded. When guests describe glamping in the redwoods at Surrey, they consistently return to one word: peaceful. That peace is not accidental. It is the result of a resort that controls its environment, limits its footprint, and places guest wellbeing above density.

This was GLAMPING at its best. So fun, great pool, campfire, and tents. The staff was exceptional.

— Debra, Expedia 10/10, June 2025

Surrey holds an 8.6 out of 10 Excellent rating on Expedia across more than 100 verified guest reviews — a sustained mark of quality that reflects season after season of consistent delivery.

Why Surrey Resort Is Trustworthy

Trust in a hospitality brand is earned through consistency — the same experience delivered reliably, to every guest, every time. Surrey Resort has built that consistency through structural investment in the guest experience rather than relying on charm alone.

Every tent is fully equipped: plush linens, electric blankets for cooler nights, ambient lantern lighting, mini fridges, futons or additional seating, luggage racks, and fresh towels for bath, face, and swimming. These are not afterthoughts. They reflect a resort that has listened to guests, anticipated needs, and built them into the standard offering. Nothing is promised and not delivered.

It was nice to go camping but still have a fridge, wifi and firepit when you've got a 2 year old with you. Also, everything is within walking distance.

— Javier, Google 5/5, April 2025

The booking process is transparent and direct, powered by a professional reservations engine. The property communicates openly — phone, email, and a clear FAQ — with a team described by guests as exceptional. The resort is also fully licensed, professionally operated, and open seasonally from March through November — structured like the serious hospitality business it is, not a side project.

Reputation in Sonoma County and Beyond

First, location. Being situated in Guerneville — the heart of the Russian River Valley — places Surrey at the geographic center of one of California's most beloved travel regions. Guests have access to world-class Sonoma wineries producing acclaimed Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Downtown Guerneville is a short walk away, offering celebrated farm-to-table restaurants, galleries, and river access. Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve is nearby, offering ancient grove trails for those who want a deeper forest bathing experience. The Pacific Coast, dramatic and wild, is only thirty minutes away by car.

Resort pool surrounded by redwoods

Resort-style pool surrounded by redwoods

Second, versatility. Surrey has cultivated a reputation not merely as a leisure destination but as a venue of genuine depth — and as one of the most sought-after retreat destinations for Bay Area travelers. The resort hosts weddings and micro-weddings beneath the redwoods and inside its charming Grand Hall, complete with exposed-rafter ceilings and a floor-to-ceiling brick fireplace. It accommodates corporate retreats and offsites with flexible meeting space, an outdoor screen and projector, and team-building access across the property. It welcomes family reunions and milestone celebrations. And it is becoming increasingly known as a destination for yoga and wellness retreat experiences — a distinction that sets it apart from conventional glamping operators.

Third, community integration. Surrey is not an isolated bubble. Its gym is open seven days a week, with memberships available to local residents. Its pool and hot tub welcome day-pass visitors. Its café and bar serve the community as well as guests.

Surrey Resort has quietly become one of my favorite places in town. I mostly go for the gym and the pool, and both are consistently clean, well-maintained, and relaxing — exactly what you want when you're trying to take care of yourself.

— Reese, Google 5/5

That kind of loyalty from the local community is among the most honest endorsements a forest resort can earn.

The Accommodations: Every Tent a World of Its Own

To stay in the redwood forest at Surrey is to inhabit one of three distinct tent experiences, each designed with its own character.

The Dome Tent is the newest and most dramatic offering — a 13-foot diameter geodesic structure with panoramic stargazing windows that frame the night sky like a living painting. With a queen or king bed, cozy interiors, seating area, and front-row views of towering redwoods, the Dome is Surrey's flagship experience and the closest thing to sleeping inside the forest itself.

The Fab+ Tent is the resort's answer for families and groups. At 14 by 16 feet of canvas, elevated on a four-foot deck with vineyard and redwood views, this tent sleeps up to four guests with a queen bed plus a futon. Spacious, warm, and fully equipped, it is the tent that makes families say they'd rather stay here than a hotel — and mean it.

Tents illuminated at night beneath redwoods

The Fab+ Tent — queen bed, futon, vineyard and redwood views

The Fab Tent brings a stylish, pared-down elegance to the canvas format. Two twin beds, modern furnishings, a raised deck with majestic redwood views — it is ideal for couples, friends, or solo travelers on a wellness-focused retreat who want the full forest experience without compromise.

Every tent across all three styles includes electricity at every corner, Wi-Fi, a private fire pit, electric blanket, luggage rack, portable fan, area rugs, ambient lamp, and a full set of fresh towels. Communal bathrooms and showers are clean, well-maintained, and steps away.

The Wellness Dimension: A True Forest Bathing Experience

There is science behind why standing among ancient trees makes you feel better. Researchers have documented the measurable health effects of shinrin-yoku — the Japanese practice of forest bathing — including reduced cortisol, lowered blood pressure, improved mood, and enhanced immune function. Surrey Resort, almost by design, delivers these outcomes. The redwoods here are not ornamental. They are hundreds of feet tall, thousands of years old, and present in a way that the body registers before the mind does.

Surrey has leaned into this dimension with intention. The resort offers outdoor and indoor yoga — breathing the forest air during a morning flow practice beneath the redwoods is, for many guests, the most grounding experience they take home. The resort's Gather program explicitly offers yoga and wellness retreats in the redwoods, allowing groups to bring their own instructors or connect with trusted local wellness professionals for a fully curated wellness retreat in nature. For Silicon Valley teams in particular, the combination of creative space, natural immersion, and genuine disconnection makes Surrey a standout choice for a restorative corporate retreat.

Yoga beneath the redwoods at Surrey Resort

Morning yoga beneath the redwoods

The hot tub, nestled among the trees and available year-round, completes the picture. After a morning hike through Armstrong Redwoods or a kayak session on the Russian River, soaking in outdoor warm water under redwood canopy is the kind of restoration that spas spend millions trying to replicate. Here it is simply part of what the place is.

Beyond the Tents: A Full Resort Experience

Surrey is a genuine forest resort — not a glamping plot with a few amenities bolted on. The distinction matters.

The resort-style crystal-blue pool, surrounded by redwoods, with reservable private cabanas, is a centerpiece of the warmer months. It is the kind of pool you don't expect to find in the forest, and that surprise is part of the delight. The café and bar serve fresh snacks, sandwiches, curated charcuterie boards, and a thoughtful selection of wine, beer, and alcohol-removed wines. The fitness center offers two ventilated rooms with cardio machines, Cybex equipment, free weights, and suspension trainers — a full workout facility in the heart of the woods.

The surrounding region extends the retreat experience further. Kayaking the gentle Russian River. Horseback riding through Sonoma meadows and forest trails. Hiking ancient grove paths or dramatic Pacific coastal routes thirty minutes west. Farm-to-table dining in celebrated Guerneville restaurants. World-class wine tasting at Sonoma County's storied vineyards. Pickleball, tennis, and cycling. And on clear nights, far from city light, a Milky Way so complete and vivid it stops conversation entirely.


Every glamping search ultimately asks the same question: where can I go to genuinely disconnect, breathe, and return to myself — without sacrificing comfort? Surrey Resort is the answer the Russian River Valley has been offering for years, and the word is spreading.

Approximately 75 minutes from San Francisco and under 90 minutes from Silicon Valley, open from March through November, nestled in three private acres of Sonoma County's most magnificent redwood forest — Surrey sits at the intersection of accessibility and remoteness, luxury and authenticity, activity and stillness. Whether you are seeking a romantic escape, a family adventure, a Bay Area retreat weekend, a corporate team reset, a destination wedding, or a deeply restorative luxury wellness getaway — Surrey delivers with consistency, integrity, and genuine soul.

This is not merely a place to stay. It is a place to arrive.

Surrey Resort · 16590 CA-116, Guerneville, CA 95446
(707) 604-4026 | surreyrr.com
Reservations for the 2026 season are now open beginning March 15th.

Ready to experience it for yourself?

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Surrey Resort entrance at evening
Travel

Why Surrey Resort Is the Ultimate Glamping Escape Near San Francisco

March 202620 min read

Luxury glamping in the redwood forest of Sonoma County — where nature, comfort, and genuine rest finally meet.

Part One: Why Glamping Is the Most Brilliant Way to Travel Right Now

Let's be honest — traditional camping has always asked a lot of you. The leaky tent. The uneven ground. The sleeping bag that smells like last summer. For years, connecting with nature meant compromising on comfort, and for a huge segment of travelers, that trade-off just wasn't worth it.

Glamping changed everything.

At its core, glamping is the answer to a question most of us have quietly been asking: What if I could have the magic of sleeping in nature without giving up the things that make me feel human? What if the bed were real, the linens were soft, the fridge were stocked, the Wi-Fi worked, and the fire pit were already waiting for me when I arrived?

That's exactly what you get at Surrey Resort in Guerneville, California — three private acres of ancient redwood forest, approximately 30 luxury canvas tents on raised wooden decks, a crystal-blue pool surrounded by trees, a fully equipped fitness center, a café and bar, a hot tub, and a level of personal attention that boutique hotels aspire to. The tents are furnished with real beds, plush linens, electric blankets, ambient lighting, mini fridges, Wi-Fi, electricity, and — most importantly — private fire pits at every single site.

A proper glamping resort offers something a hotel simply cannot: the visceral, irreplaceable sensation of being held by nature. The sound of wind moving through ancient trees. The smell of forest air, clean and alive in a way that no room diffuser will ever replicate. The particular quality of silence that exists only far from a city.

Research consistently shows that time spent in natural environments lowers cortisol levels, reduces blood pressure, improves sleep quality, and restores cognitive attention. The Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku — forest bathing — has been studied for decades and shows remarkable results for both mental and physical health. Glamping in the redwood forest is not a lifestyle upgrade. It is, increasingly, a medical one.

This was GLAMPING at its best. So fun, great pool, campfire, and tents. The staff was exceptional.

— Debra, Expedia 10/10, June 2025

When glamping is done this well — when the setting is ancient forest, the amenities are resort-grade, and the service is genuinely warm — you stop comparing it to camping. You stop comparing it to hotels. You simply recognize that this is its own thing, and that it might be the best way to travel.

Part Two: Why Surrey Resort's Location Is Practically Perfect

If you are going to go glamping in the redwoods, there is one address in Northern California that keeps rising to the top — Surrey Resort, nestled in the heart of Sonoma County's Russian River Valley, just outside the charming town of Guerneville.

The Redwood Forest

Surrey Resort sits among towering ancient redwoods — some of the oldest and tallest living things on earth. The coastal redwoods of Sonoma County are not decorative trees planted for ambiance. They are ancient organisms, hundreds of feet tall, with trunks wider than cars and canopies that filter the sunlight into something closer to stained glass. To sleep beneath them is to feel something shift inside you. The scale of these trees recalibrates your sense of time and priority in a way that is difficult to articulate but impossible to forget.

The Russian River

Steps from the resort, the Russian River winds gently through redwood-lined banks. Kayak, swim, float, or simply sit on the bank with a glass of wine and watch the light change — the river offers a different quality of peace than the forest: open, moving, sun-warmed, and deeply relaxing.

Forest bike ride near Surrey Resort

Explore the Russian River Valley by bike, foot, or kayak

Wine Country on Your Doorstep

The Russian River Valley is one of California's most celebrated wine appellations. World-class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are produced by vineyards that begin practically at the resort's doorstep. Tasting rooms, private tours, sunset vineyard dinners — all within minutes. This is not "near wine country." This is wine country.

The Pacific Coast

Drive thirty minutes west and the Sonoma Coast opens before you — dramatic cliffs, crashing Pacific surf, and some of the most cinematic coastal hiking in California. Bodega Bay, Jenner, and Goat Rock Beach are all within easy reach for a day trip that turns your forest retreat into a surf-and-turf masterpiece.

Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve

One of the most remarkable old-growth redwood groves in the state is essentially in Surrey's backyard. Walking the Pioneer Trail among 1,400-year-old trees is a spiritual experience as much as a physical one.

Its glamping at its finest. The town is amazing — a fun little town with cool vibe. Pool and cabanas are sweet, gym is top notch fully stocked.

— Rocky, Expedia 10/10, October 2024

75 Minutes from San Francisco

Here is the detail that makes Surrey Resort quietly extraordinary for Bay Area residents: it is approximately 75 minutes from San Francisco. Not a weekend commitment requiring elaborate logistics — just a decision, a bag, and a drive north through Sonoma wine country. Cross the Golden Gate Bridge or the Richmond-San Rafael, watch the vineyards open up on either side of the highway, and feel the decompression begin before you even arrive. This accessibility transforms Surrey from a destination into a ritual.

Part Three: Why Unwinding Away from San Francisco Is Not a Luxury — It Is a Necessity

San Francisco is one of the most dynamic, stimulating, and relentlessly demanding cities on earth. The tech industry's culture of perpetual productivity, the density of ambition, the cost of everything, the noise, the pace — these are not small background pressures. They are the defining texture of daily life for millions of Bay Area residents, and they accumulate.

The modern knowledge worker — in San Francisco especially — exists in a state of near-constant cognitive activation that the human nervous system was simply not designed to sustain. Screen time, notification culture, open-plan offices, commute stress, housing anxiety, social comparison, algorithmic content feeds — these inputs, taken individually, are manageable. Taken together, over months and years, they erode attention, degrade sleep, elevate cortisol, suppress immune function, and diminish the capacity for creativity and emotional connection. It is not weakness. It is biology.

Aerial view of Surrey Resort surrounded by redwoods

Three private acres — the antidote to city life

What the body and mind need, regularly and without apology, is what scientists call restorative environments — places that are coherent, fascinating without being demanding, and genuinely removed from the cues that trigger work-mode cognition. A forest. A river. A fire. A sky full of stars. Surrey Resort was built on this principle, even if it didn't always use the clinical language.

Quiet, comfortable. Nice pool and common spaces.

— David, Expedia 8/10, July 2024

This is why the nature resort concept resonates so powerfully with Bay Area travelers. People are not just seeking vacation — they are seeking repair. And at Surrey Resort, that is exactly what you find. Three serene acres in the Russian River Valley where the agenda is entirely yours. Where the redwoods stand quietly overhead, the fire pit is already lit, and the only decision you have to make is whether to swim, hike, or simply do nothing at all.

Parents return from a glamping weekend genuinely present with their children. Couples reconnect in ways that a fancy restaurant dinner in the city rarely facilitates. Solo travelers report sleeping through the night for the first time in months. Corporate teams return to work with ideas and energy they hadn't accessed in quarters. Individuals find clarity about decisions that months of productivity had obscured.

Part Four: The Experience You Will Carry with You Forever

The Morning You Will Not Forget

You wake up. The canvas of your tent holds the pale light of early morning. Somewhere above you, through the zippered net window, the redwoods are doing what they do — ancient, unhurried, indifferent to your deadlines. There is birdsong. There is the faint smell of last night's fire. You do not reach for your phone. Not yet. You lie there, and for the first time in a long time, you let the morning come to you.

My partner and I were lucky to be the only two people at the property, and I must admit the glamping experience was nothing short of magical. The mornings and nights were unforgettable — waking with birdsong and sunrise in the most natural way possible and gazing at clear starry night skies.

— Joseph, Expedia 10/10, May 2024

The Fire

Every tent at Surrey comes with its own personal fire pit. There is something ancient about gathering around a fire that no amount of modern sophistication has managed to replace. At Surrey, the fire is always there — your own private hearth in the forest. The fire draws people together. It creates space for conversation that doesn't happen at dinner tables or in living rooms. Around a fire, in the dark, under old trees, people say the things they actually mean.

Fire pit at Surrey Resort

Your own private fire pit — every tent, every night

The Pool Beneath the Trees

A crystal-blue resort-style pool surrounded by redwoods is an image that shouldn't logically work — and yet it is one of the most memorable features of a Surrey stay. The luxury of floating in warm water while ancient trees rise around you creates a sensory combination that is genuinely rare. Add poolside cabanas, a café serving wine and charcuterie, and the filtered light of a redwood afternoon, and you have something that hotels with ten times the budget would struggle to manufacture.

The Stars

Far from the light pollution of the Bay Area, the Sonoma night sky reveals itself fully. The Milky Way is not a photograph here — it is something you lie back and look up at from beside your fire pit, with the quiet understanding that this is what the sky has always looked like, and that you had simply forgotten.

Such a fun experience! Beautiful pool and amazing staff. Wish we could have stayed longer and will certainly be back soon!

— Andrew, Expedia 10/10, May 2024

This is a very unique property. Glamping with cute tents and a nice pool! We will be back.

— Noel, Expedia, July 2024

There is a place, 75 minutes from San Francisco, where the tallest trees on Earth stand over canvas tents with real beds and private fire pits. Where a crystal pool glows blue among ancient redwood trunks. Where a café serves wine beside a forest trail and a hot tub steams gently under the stars. Where the Russian River flows minutes from your tent, and wine country begins at the property line. Where the staff knows your name and the silence between the trees is the most luxurious thing on the property.

Surrey Resort in Guerneville, California is that place. And once you find it, you will find yourself returning — season after season, year after year — not out of habit, but out of genuine need.

The 2026 season opens March 15th. Reservations are open now.

Surrey Resort · 16590 CA-116, Guerneville, CA 95446
(707) 604-4026 | surreyrr.com

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Yoga in the redwoods at Surrey Resort
Wellness

Surrey Resort Opens Its 2026 Season with New Wellness & Yoga Retreats

March 202614 min read

A Hidden Forest Retreat in the Heart of Sonoma's Russian River Valley

The forest is calling. And this season, Surrey Resort in Guerneville, California is answering in a way that's never been done before.

As one of the most beloved glamping destinations in Northern California, Surrey Resort has always been a place where nature meets luxury — where you wake up to birdsong instead of traffic, and fall asleep beneath a canopy of ancient redwoods. But the 2026 season marks a meaningful new chapter. For the first time, Surrey is launching a dedicated lineup of Wellness and Yoga Retreats, transforming an already magical nature escape into a full-spectrum healing retreat for the mind, body, and soul.

Whether you're planning a solo mindfulness retreat, a couples wellness retreat, a group yoga retreat in nature, or simply a deeply nourishing weekend getaway — this is the season to finally go.

The 2026 Season: Where Wellness Meets the Wild

Surrey Resort has always offered the ingredients for deep restoration: towering redwoods, starlit skies, warm fire pits, and the quiet flow of the Russian River just steps away. This season, those ingredients come together in intentionally designed retreat experiences that take your stay from a great vacation to a genuinely transformative one.

The new Wellness and Yoga Retreats at Surrey are built around one core idea: that the most powerful form of healing doesn't happen in a clinic — it happens in nature, when you finally slow down enough to receive it.

Yoga beneath redwoods at Surrey Resort

Morning yoga beneath the redwoods — the 2026 retreat experience

Guests can expect morning yoga sessions held in the open air beneath the redwoods — a true yoga retreat in nature that begins each day with presence and breath. Forest bathing retreat walks guided through Surrey's three serene acres and along the Russian River, drawing on the Japanese practice of Shinrin-yoku — the science-backed therapy of immersing yourself in forest atmosphere. Mindfulness and meditation sessions at golden hour, where the filtered light through ancient trees becomes its own kind of teacher.

The retreat programming also includes spa treatments in nature, digital detox retreat programming giving guests a structured, supported way to unplug completely, and curated wellness nutrition paired with wine country experiences and optional group or private sessions tailored to every kind of traveler.

This is a nature wellness retreat in the fullest sense: not a wellness brand imposed on a landscape, but a retreat that grows organically from one of the most naturally healing places in California.

The Location: Why Surrey Resort Is Perfectly Placed

There's a reason people drive to Guerneville from across the state — and why those who find Surrey Resort almost always come back.

Surrey Resort sits on three stunning acres along the Russian River in Guerneville, Sonoma County, nestled at the edge of an ancient redwood forest and just minutes from world-class vineyards. It's a rare geographic sweet spot: wild enough to feel like a true nature escape, yet connected enough to offer the best of wine country, local dining, and outdoor adventure.

The Redwoods

Surrey isn't near the redwoods — it's among them. Ancient trees surround the property, creating a microclimate of shade, stillness, and oxygen-rich air that you feel the moment you arrive. To stay in the redwoods is to enter a living cathedral. There is simply nothing else like it.

The Russian River

The river is a short walk from your tent. Johnson's Beach, one of the most beloved swimming and sunbathing spots in Sonoma, is just ten minutes on foot. The river is calm, clear, and deeply relaxing — perfect for morning swims, kayaking, or simply sitting at the bank and breathing.

Sonoma Wine Country

Some of California's most celebrated vineyards are minutes away. A summer getaway that combines forest bathing with wine tasting? That's not a compromise — that's a discovery.

Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve

Armstrong Redwoods — ancient groves steps from the resort

Downtown Guerneville

The town is a charming, eclectic community with its own distinct soul. Great restaurants, independent shops, live music, and genuine local warmth make it the perfect complement to resort life.

Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve

One of the finest hiking retreat destinations in Northern California is practically in Surrey's backyard. Miles of ancient-growth trails wind through 1,400-year-old redwoods — a hiking getaway experience that borders on the spiritual.

Why You Need to Make the Drive from San Francisco

Let's be honest: city life is extraordinary. But it also accumulates. The pace, the screens, the noise, the ambient urgency of always being on — it adds up in ways we don't always notice until we finally step away.

Surrey Resort is 90 minutes from San Francisco — close enough that you can make the decision on a Thursday and be sleeping under the redwoods by Friday night. Cross the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, watch the Sonoma County vineyards open up on either side of the highway, and feel the decompression begin before you even arrive.

For travelers coming from Sacramento, San Jose, Oakland, or Los Angeles, the resort is equally accessible — a getaway that requires no flights, no lost luggage, no airport stress. Just an open road and the anticipation of something genuinely restorative ahead.

Aerial view of Surrey Resort property

Three serene acres — 90 minutes from San Francisco

Urban life in 2026 is more screen-saturated, more high-stimulus, and more relentlessly fast than at any point in history. Research continues to confirm what ancient wisdom has always suggested: time in nature lowers cortisol, reduces anxiety, improves sleep quality, and restores the kind of focused attention that modern life steadily erodes.

A digital detox retreat in the redwoods isn't a luxury indulgence — it's a maintenance need. And Surrey makes it achievable, beautiful, and deeply enjoyable.

Whether you're coming for a forest bathing retreat, a cool forest summer vacation with friends, a solo healing retreat, or a nature vacation with the whole family — the 90-minute drive from San Francisco might be the most worthwhile commute of your year.

The Experience You Will Remember and Cherish

There are vacations you enjoy, and there are experiences you carry with you. Surrey Resort belongs firmly in the second category.

What makes Surrey unforgettable isn't just the canvas tents with their plush beds, private fire pits, and panoramic redwood views. It isn't just the resort-quality pool with its poolside cabanas, the top-tier gym, the new geodesic dome tents with panoramic stargazing windows, or the warm and genuinely welcoming staff. It's the way all of it comes together in a setting that feels, at once, deeply luxurious and completely, naturally real.

Guests consistently describe it as arriving and immediately feeling like something in them exhales.

My partner and I were lucky to be the only two people at the property, and I must admit the glamping experience was nothing short of magical. The mornings and nights were unforgettable — waking with birdsong and sunrise in the most natural way possible, and gazing at clear starry night skies.

— Joseph, May 2024

Glamping at its finest. The town is amazing, a fun little town with cool vibe. Pool and cabanas are sweet, gym is top notch fully stocked.

— Rocky, October 2024

This is a very unique property. Glamping with cute tents and a nice pool! We will be back.

— Noel, July 2024

Tents with electricity. Comfy bed and the hot tub was very nice. Everyone was welcoming and positive. My stay was Monday and Tuesday, so I was the only one there — peaceful and I felt very safe. Sahara was especially helpful!

— German, November 2023

These aren't reviews of a place that simply met expectations. These are memories. Joseph still thinks about those starlit skies. German still remembers the peace of having the whole forest to himself. Rocky still talks about the pool. That's what a luxury glamping experience in the redwoods does. It imprints.


Sleep Under the Redwoods. Wake to birdsong. Practice yoga at sunrise. Walk barefoot on forest trails. Float in the pool as afternoon light falls through the canopy. Sit by the fire as the stars come out, one by one.

This is your Redwood Escape.

Whether you're seeking a forest bathing retreat, a nature wellness retreat, a hiking getaway in the wild, or simply the most beautiful cool forest summer vacation of your life — Surrey Resort has a tent, a fire, and a view waiting for you.

Surrey Resort · 16590 CA-116, Guerneville, CA 95446
(707) 604-4026 | surreyrr.com

Escape to Nature — Book Your 2026 Stay

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Surrey Resort entrance at dusk

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Own Story?

Trade the screen for the canopy. Book your stay at Surrey Resort and discover the Russian River for yourself.

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