Guerneville is a small California town located along the banks of the Russian River, one of the state's most significant waterways. Although Guerneville lies in Sonoma County, which is a coastal county in the northern half of the state, the town is located inland. This, however, does not mean that tourists staying in Guerneville vacation homes have no beach access. Guerneville is not far from the coast; visitors can easily pop over to the seaside for a day trip or even a half-day trip. When they do, they will find that the beaches of Sonoma County are beautiful and rocky, offering good swimming in summer and lovely fog-shrouded days in winter.
Guerneville can boast about 5,000 permanent inhabitants. The town is very tourist-friendly and features a laid-back atmosphere along with good places to eat and excellent access to fishing and other water activities on the Russian River. The town is named after the Guerne family, who founded it in the mid-1800s, but due to periodic flooding of the nearby river, few original buildings remain. Tourists, however, will be pleased to note that generous FEMA grants have elevated most buildings so that now, although flooding can still happen, the impact on the town is far less.
Two of the most popular activities with tourists are trips to see the redwood forests located nearby and wine tasting at area wineries. This latter activity allows visitors to take a little bit of the region home with them, in the form of a bottle of local wine.