Minuses: stupid crafts projects, uncomfortable bunks and inedible food, especially scrambled eggs made from powder dating back a few seasons. [...] there’s Drakesbad, which officially is a guest ranch but has the feel of a summer camp — with none of the things you hated and all the things you loved, and more. The word got out, and in 1900 a teacher named Alex Sifford visited, hoping the waters might cure his stomach ailments. Sifford fell for the place — so hard that he bought the property from Drake and started a hot springs resort, naming it Drakesbad, or Drake’s baths. [...] you drive 70 miles east from Red Bluff (Tehama County) on Highway 36 until you reach the little Plumas County town of Chester, then head northwest for 17 miles into Warner Valley. When the road ends, you see it: red-roofed, chocolate-brown cabins scattered on the edge of a serene mountain meadow. [...] none of the cozily retro knotty-pine lodge rooms or cabins have keys (they do lock from inside), because you are all one big happy family here, an easygoing mix of outdoorsy, Patagonia-wearing people ranging in age from toddlers to 70s. Hiking trails lead to Warner Valley’s hydrothermal attractions: When you return, you can soothe sore muscles in the hot-springs-fed pool, then gear up for dinner, followed by roasting s’mores around a campfire. Drakesbad’s wrangler, Morgan Weaver, doubles as massage therapist, working out of the ranch’s elegant new massage studio, a beautifully appointed tent set on a creek bank. [...] while the ranch lodge offers the classic indoor entertainments, like reading and chatting and playing board games, Drakesbad also schedules more sophisticated events here, including wine tasting.
