Hidden Creek

Hidden Creek
A small town in Napa Valley, Hidden Creek has a population of around 20,000 souls and is a major stop for wine country tourists.

History
Founded in 1860 in the heart of the silver rush, Hidden Creek originated as a small mining settlement in the hills overlooking the future location of the town. Miners flocked from all over to the hilltop that would be forever dubbed “Silverado Peak,” where hundreds of mines were created and picked clean of silver.

When the miners began to have a hard time finding silver in the mines, many moved down from the hill to a large area of flat land near the Napa River and broke ground, building what would be modern day Hidden Creek, expanding from a small village of a few hundred people to a town bursting with a population of nearly 17,000 souls.

Over time the mines were sealed off and the buildings that defined the original settlement were left abandoned. The older  buildings had a view of Hidden Creek and the Napa River, attracting many tourists and locals who are up for the hike, and ‘no trespassing’ signs line certain areas where the mines are believed to be unstable and dangerous.

Hidden Creek is believed to have gained its name from the Napa River, although little to the town’s knowledge a small creek hidden from view by foliage winds through the woods and appears to be cut off at the flat face of the local hill. Instead of ending at the flat surface of the bedrock, the creek continues on through an underwater cave and pops up inside the hills as an underground river that leads to some of the miners’ abandoned rooms and shafts that have been untouched, almost as though someone had left and intended on coming back.