Work Hard But Play Harder - Fifty Plus Adventures within 2 to 5 hours of SF Bay

I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area almost 20 years ago, and some of my first visits were the usual tourist traps. Fishermen's Wharf, Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park, Pier 39, Muir Woods, Haight Ashbury and the Crooked St. I started watching Bay Area backroads and Tom Stienstra and then the real adventure began. We live in a veritable wildlife park and you can almost see any animal at any time. It’s one of the rare places where you can see elephant seals fight or give birth, see whales swimming by from land, see condors soaring, see bear cubs frolicking and see coyotes and bobcats pouncing for their meals.?What follows is a list of my favorite places. This took me and the Mrs. 8-10 years to complete and there is even more on the periphery. We all work incredibly hard. I hope these amazing places give you some reward. If you know of others, please share.

Disclaimer: the distances and altitude gains are from memory and estimates.

Mt Tamalpais East Peak-From atop a rocky outcropping ~1000 feet up overlooking SF - 30 minute walk from the parking lot.

Mt Tamalpais-DipSea down to Stinson and up the Steep Ravine trail back to the Pantoll Trail Head - 4-5 miles. Down and then up … well... a steep ravine.

Cataract Falls trail (climb up the ridge to see the ocean). Small little parking area. Get there early and walk 3-4 miles along a cataract of waterfalls to the cliffs overlooking the Pacific

Angel Island perimeter road -4 - 5 miles

Angel Island over Mt Livermore. 4 ish miles

This will probably be two trips. Take the ferry from SF or Tiburon. There are restaurants at Angel Island and Tiburon. Make it a point to see the immigration station. Internees etched poems into the wooden walls in Chinese and Russian.

Point Reyes

Alamere Falls - 7 mile hike to the falls that fall to the beach

Inverness Ridge to Limantour overlook- 4-5 miles to scenic vista overlooking the Pacific

Drakes Beach to Secret Cave (past Sculptured Beach) 4-5 miles

Lighthouse - Walk down 300 steps to this lighthouse built into the edge of a cliff. On calm days, you can see whales swimming by

Chimney Rock 2-3 mile walk

Abbotts Lagoon - 3-4 mile walk to the beach. Typically see deer, coyotes, bobcats, river otters and sometimes seals

Tomales Point Trail - 7-8 mile hike through the tule elk preserve. Pacific will be on your left and Tonales Bay on your right.

Bodega Head trail - 3-4 mike walk

Sonoma Coast / Goat Rock - park and walk. This is where the final scene of the Goonies was filmed

Bowling Ball Beach - 4 ish mile walk to see what look like 50 bowling balls at low tide

Just over the hill back to Rt 101 and trek up through the Avenue of the Giants comparing these coastal giant redwoods to the sequoias in the mountains.

Fern Canyon - 2-3 mile up the canyon or 5-6 miles up and around it. You will remember this scene from Jurassic Park

Patrick’s Point - 2-3 mike walk up a rocky point overlooking the ocean

Pinnacles- two options and best not in summer.

Bear Gulch (Paicines side) -4-5 mile hike up a series of caves to a reservoir You can go all the way to the ridge to see the condors that are usually there in the AM.

Steep and Narrow (Soledad side) - 3-4 miles and 1400 feet up to the same ridge above. “Trail” includes a series of stairs, ladders, bridges and rock scrambles up, through and around the pinnacles. EPIC!

Balcony Caves (Soledad side) - can be added to the previous hike. 2-3 Mile loop. Bring a flash flight.

Big Sur

Point Lobos - 3-4 mile loop along the most beautiful coastline. Catch it right and you can see momma otters teaching their babies to swim and forage.

Julia Pfieffer Burns State Park 1-2 Mile walk along Highway 1. The iconic waterfall falling to the beach

Scenic Bixby Bridge - if you have a car with good clearance and traction, take the road that juts inland on the north side of the bridge. It’s a 15 mile back country road that goes through a redwood grove then down the granite face of a mountain slope.

Ano Nuevo - 3-4 miles along the boardwalk to the beach. One of the largest groups of elephant seals

San Gregorio Beach - 1-2 mike walk along Highway 1

Pescadero Beach - same as above

Shark fin Cove - same as above

Big Basin Skyline to the Sea loop - 10-11 miles down and then up 1,200 feet. Best to go clockwise down the left side and up the right side. Going up, you pass 3-4 waterfalls and climb stairs right along the cascade

Sunol State Park 2 miles to 20 miles. There is something for everyone. 2 miles to Little Yosemite gorge or hike to the top of 4,000 foot Rose Mountain or McGuire Peaks

Mission Peak - 2,000 feet up and 4-5 miles. Best in the AM or with incoming fog

Mt Diablo Summit - Depending how you’re feeling, you can drive up, bike up or walk up. Pick your poison. It’s 4,000 feet above sea level so you can see the Farallones and SF to the west and the snow capped Sierra to the east.

Rock City and Sentinel Rock - a nice 3-4 mile hike through caves carved by wind. Sentinel Rock is a mini Half Dome with stairs and rails to get to the top

Morgan Territory - another spectacular place. Hike down Coyote Creek and loop up the other side 2 - 8 miles is easy to do here. Very rich in Native American history with one of the highest concentrations of grinding mortars

Vasco caves and Brushy Peak - near Morgan Territory. Also rich in Native American history

Del Valle - open pasture land great for a hike or rent a kayak or motorboat. In the AM, see deer, coyotes and bobcats

Yosemite

Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls 3-4 miles and 1000 foot climb to Vernal and 6-7 miles and 2,000 feet to Nevada. The mist of the waterfalls can be like rain during spring. Literally bring a raincoat and fully expect a rainbow in the falls mist. Continue on to HalfDone if you have 12 - 14 hours

Yosemite Falls - do the loop at the falls and scramble up to the mist. There’s also a high road that comes in from the side and continues to the top of upper falls

Hetch Hetchy - 4-8 miles along the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. It was another Yosemite Valley before they built the dam and flooded it. You pass Wapama and Rancheria Falls. You walk through Wapama Falls

Glacier Point (from the valley) - you can drive to it during summer when the road opens. Also an epic hike up from the valley floor

Sequoia National Park - Morro Rock - roadside stop and ~1,000 feet of stairs and railings. Walk right out on the mountain overlooking the valley. The giant sequoias here and at nearby Kings Canyon will make you feel small.

Mt Shasta - of course you can hike this monstrosity, but I like to drive to Bunny Flat to get above the tree line and then hike as high as I can get to the snow capped peak

North of Mt Shasta is Lava Tubes National Park and Glass Mountain. When the Medicine Lake volcano erupted 1,000s of years ago, the lava descended into this area and melted tubes through the ground. These tubes are 1,000s of feet long and you can hike them from one opening to another in absolute pitch darkness. Some are huge caverns and some require a little crawling. Bring a few flashlights just in case one dies.

Also north of Mt Shasta is Glass Mountain. It is basically a mountain top of pure volcanic glass or obsidian. The entire area was a caldera and it literred with pumice from the last violent volcanic eruption. It looks like a giant construction zone without a single plant or living thing growing.

McCloud Falls - 20-30 minute drive from Mt Shasta. This is a series of three waterfalls. Loop is only a few miles long and the swimming hole at the end is inviting. Side note, it is pure glacier runoff and is typically 35-40 degrees on the hottest days of summer. Be forewarned.

Burney Falls - on the drive from Mt Shasta to Lassen. Simply the most beautiful place on earth

Cinder Cone - another 30 minutes from Burney is a perfect cone shaped volcano that you can hike up and then down into the crater. As the name implies, it is basically a 1,000 foot pile of sand (or cinders) that spit and spewed from a fissure. The hike is only 3 miles but it is literally walking uphill in deep sand. From the top though, you can peer or walk down into the crater, and also see Mt Lassen looming in the distance. In summer, there is also a very refreshing lake to cool off in.

Seven Falls - heading up into Lassen National Park from the north. Absolutely beautiful along with the scenic iconic meadow

Bumpass Hell and Lassen Peak are close to each other. You’re at 10,000 feet so this only opens in June or July and closes in Sept - Oct, and there is usually snow piled up year round. Lassen Peak is an active volcano. You can hike the last 1,500 or so feet to what is called Vulcan’s Eye. This peak last erupted ~1910 so it’s due. Walk fast.

Bumpass Hell is a mini Yellowstone. It’s a geothermal area that some guy named Bumpass fell into in the 1800s. Trail is 5-6 miles and you descend into the geothermal zone on a decent slope. At the bottom, there are boardwalks that take you out over over the boiling mud and stinky sulfurous gases. Not to be missed. Hold the kids tight though.

LakeTahoe

There are too many to choose from but my favorites are:

Kayaking from Sand Harbor down the eastern shore. Get there early to get parking. The water is ice cold and so crystal clear, you can see SCUBA divers and huge boulders 30-50 feet below you.

Hiking 7-8 miles from DL Bliss State Park to Emerald Bay along the Rubicon trail

From the Emerald Bay overlook, also hike the 4-5 up to Eagle Falls and Eagle Lake. You can keep going into the Desolation Wilderness if you need more.