Mark West Springs Rd, Larkfield-Wikiup

This is the "other River Road," and you might not even know about it unless you took that last Santa Rosa turnoff for River Road, heading north out of Santa Rosa toward Healdsburg. Make a right, instead of a left, at the end of the offramp, and you are pointing down Mark West Springs Road.

What is so nice about this drive? The scenery. Initially, it passes by a shopping district, a gas station or two, and a few subdivisions such as Mark West, but then it becomes a lovely drive across the top of Santa Rosa, bordered by forests and fields. It meanders enroute to Calistoga and St. Helena. Alternately, you could take Highway 12 heading east, but you would have to drive across metropolitan Santa Rosa. Try this as a leisurely, lovely back road route into Napa County.

The Wells Fargo Center for the Arts (known as the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts before the era of corporate branding) is just off the freeway on your right. Home to the Santa Rosa Symphony, the venue hosts an eclectic mix of events, mostly musical. It is a nicely appointed space at 50 Mark West Springs Dr. The Mark West Union School District also has its offices on this road, at 305.