The sun rises over Alpenglow Farms in Southern Humboldt County.
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California Cannabis Tourism Poised for Huge Summer
leafmagazines.com
Cannabis farms with tourism licenses, hotels offering direct sales to guests, and more reasons to expect a big year for a certain type of homegrown hospitality. THE SECRET IS OUT: People want to see where Cannabis grows. Until recently, such desires were usually a futile wish. After all, protecting the location of one’s crop was of the utmost importance prior to the rise of legal markets in certain states. Even today, many continue to experience a disconnect between the flower in a jar purchased at a dispensary, and the soil – not to mention farmers – from which it originated. This issue isn’t limited to consumers and the general public. When Judi Nelson of Trinity County’s Sol Spirit Farm first began attending trade shows several years ago, she recalls being “blown away” by the number of people she met who were working in the Cannabis industry, but had never seen a Cannabis plant growing in the ground. “That was a big part of us wanting to do this,” Nelson added. “It’s so important to really see that, because I think it has the power to be life-changing.” Nelson’s undertaking – which she owns and operates alongside her husband, Walter Wood – is a 10,000-square-foot regenerative Cannabis farm in Trinity County. In 2019, the venture added Sol Spirit Retreats: a farm-stay hospitality business focused on Cannabis tourism.
JUN. 2021
The result is a glamping experience that includes a tour of the farm, decadent spreads of locally-made goods, and even a day of floating on the South Fork of the Trinity River. It is, in fact, but one of many opportunities those interested in Cannabis tourism are currently being encouraged to enjoy. A T I C K E T T O ( C A N N A B I S ) PA R A D I S E
April Black’s Cannabis travel agency career happened somewhat inadvertently. After working to book trips to Amsterdam in connection with High Times Cannabis Cup events, Black, who is married to Leaf Magazines columnist Bobby Black, soon found her work expanding to include travel packages for the Hawaii Cannabis Expo. From there, she saw a niche and flourished. Today, Black brings years of experience working on events and itineraries – set everywhere from Jamaica to the inner-wilds of the Emerald Triangle – to her role at Higher Way Travel. And naturally, the success of Prop. 64 in 2016 brought with it a huge surge of new opportunities for her clients. “Since legalization happened here in California,” Black said,
“the doors have just burst wide open. Now there are all kinds of different options for Cannabis tourists. There are hotels like the Desert Hot Springs Inn, which has a micro-license which allows them to sell Cannabis to their guests. It’s gone that far. There are farm tours, Cannabis-infused massages, dinner pairings – you name it. There are even farms you can stay at.” One such option is Judi Nelson’s Sol Spirit Farm. In fact, the Trinity County property will soon play host to the Higher Health Retreat — an upcoming event Black is planning for this July. There are also four farms licensed for tourism in Humboldt County, though as Nelson explained, the entire process regarding what is required to welcome visitors can sometimes come down to a matter of inches. “Our farm is licensed in Trinity County, but our property line is the Humboldt-Trinity line,” Nelson explained. “My next-door neighbor is in Humboldt County and her farm is permitted in Humboldt County, but we happen to be in Trinity County.” “Trinity has its own set of challenges,” she continued. “But as far
