While there are many wellness tourism options in California’s Wine Country, NewTree Ranch is a Sonoma County eco-luxury retreat committed to regeneration of guests and the land alike. The farm stay property has more than 30 sustainability practices in place, including bee repopulation, seed saving and redwood reforestation. Of course, the ranch uses solar panels, and it reduces food waste by saving produce peels to make the vegetable stock used in the nourishing recipes filling its menu. Better still, the ranch redistributes surplus food that is grown on-site—donating fresh produce every week to Food for Thought, a local nonprofit that gets healthy meals into the hands of those in need.
Just as NewTree Ranch provides wellness for the community and the environment, so it does for guests as well. The atmosphere of the working biodynamic farm just outside Healdsburg encourages guests to move mindfully and reconnect with the land, themselves and their traveling companions. There are two options for lodging: a four-bedroom ranch estate or a two-bedroom option perched above a flower and vegetable garden.
Given the scarcity of guests, and its rural nature, the property is very private, offering a prime opportunity for nature immersion. The outdoors serves as the backdrop for many activities, including forest bathing, yoga, sound bathing and the Wim Hof Ice Bath Experience. That one involves mindfulness, meditative breathing and a plunge into a freezing cold tub.
Guests can also spend time in the biodynamic garden harvesting fresh seasonal vegetables, followed by a seed-to-table cooking demo. Kitchens are always fully stocked with a harvest of ingredients picked fresh that day, so that guests can opt to prepare their own meals. That said, the ranch chefs are more than ready to cook up plant-based meals made almost entirely from produce grown on the farm and deliver it straight to the door.
Since NewTree Ranch is a not-for-profit business, every dollar received supports stewardship of the land and the team that tends to it.
Ed Newell, cofounder and CEO of NewTree Ranch, likes to think of what the property offers as “conscious travel.” “I believe it is the future of travel,” he says. “Choosing to spend your days doing things that are not only healing to ourselves, but also to nature, creates a holiday that recharges one’s spirit and soul at the deepest level.” newtreeranch.com
Organic Spa Magazine By: Laura Powell
