Jane Huber is a real authority on San Francisco Bay Area hiking trails–she wrote the book. Specifically, she wrote 60 Hikes within 60 Miles: San Francisco, and she shares many of those great Bay Area walks on her Bay Area Hiker website.
Like many gung-ho hiking guide writers, she also has a hiking blog, and I love her latest post on how to save money in these tough economic times by choosing inexepnsive hikes close to home.
With the economy suffering and folks losing their jobs, just about everyone is looking for money saving ideas. While hiking is just about free, there are costs associated with it — most notably gas, bridge tolls, and day-use fees. So it makes good sense to consider each potential hike for recreation and monetary value. For example, I would think twice about making a day trip to Wilder Ranch. This state park just a bit north of Santa Cruz is about 120 miles round trip from San Francisco and the day use fee is a whooping $8 — altogether too much money.
She goes on to list a large number of inexpensive or free places to visit, all with links that give detailed info on how to do them. She also discusses how you can visit some parks for free, avoiding the fee by parking in the right place.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m a bit chagrined to admit that I commonly use the “creative parking” method when I take my oldest daughter hiking.
Twitter: @TheJohnSoares
Roy, I at times do the same. Wilder Ranch just north of Santa Cruz has parking on Highway 1 and a walk-in entrance. I didn’t see any place to pay an entrance fee.