Named for the SS Tennessee, a commercial steamer that wrecked nearby in 1853, Tennessee Point is one of the best vantage points overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Golden Gate National Recreation Area’s Marin Headlands area. A relatively easy hike leads to the popular vista, following a section of the California Coastal Trail before branching off …
Continue reading Coastal Trail to Tennessee Point (Golden Gate National Recreation Area, CA)
Throughout much of San Francisco’s history, ships seeking to enter the Bay Area flirted with disaster: jagged rocks, shallow beds, dense fog, and nasty waves left hundreds of vessels in the 19th and 20th centuries capsized, torn apart, and buried at the ocean floor. As thousands of gold prospectors—from all over the world—flocked to San …
Continue reading Point Bonita Lighthouse Trail (Golden Gate National Recreation Area, CA)
The San Francisco Bay Area in northern California is a fantastic launching point for redwood hunters, with accessible groves of these mesmerizing trees within an hour and a half both north and south of the Golden Gate. While the largest groves lie further north, the Santa Cruz Mountains between the Bay Area and Santa Cruz …
Continue reading Purisima Creek Redwoods Loop (Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve, CA)
The windswept shoreline of Lands End forms the northwest tip of the San Francisco Peninsula and is easily accessible from northern California’s iconic cultural capital. For those looking for a brief urban escape, the Land’s End section of the Coastal Trail offers a surprisingly rugged hike through cypress groves and along rocky cliffs, with excellent …
At 2,571 feet above sea level, California’s Mount Tamalpais (known affectionately by locals as “Mt. Tam”) offers splendid vistas of Marin Peninsula and the San Francisco Bay area, as well as Bolinas Bay and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Mount Tamalpais State Park—comprising far more than just the mountain’s three peaks—also boasts more than …
Continue reading Dipsea Trail – Steep Ravine Trail Loop (Mount Tamalpais State Park, CA)
*The following is a guest post from my friend and old classmate, the lovely Emily Alpert! Perched on the top of Mount Tamalpais, the Rock Spring Trail meanders through meadows, chaparral, and forests. The trailhead offers sweeping views of the white city of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. In the summer, Mount Tamalpais …
Continue reading Rock Spring and Laurel Dell (Marin Municipal Water District, CA)
Live and Let Hike 