There are six free-entrance days in 2025 for national parks and national monuments in Northern California. Hike your favorite trails, picnic, explore, and enjoy nature with your friends and family. 2025 Free Entrance Days to Northern California National Parks and Monuments Here are the six days in 2025 that you can save your hard-earned money […]
2024 Free Entrance Days at Northern California National Parks and Monuments
There are six free-entrance days in 2024 for national parks and national monuments in Northern California. Hike your favorite trails, picnic, explore, and enjoy nature with your friends and family. 2024 Free Entrance Days to Northern California National Parks and Monuments Here are the six days in 2024 that you can save your hard-earned money […]
2023 Free Entrance Days at Northern California National Parks and Monuments
There are five free-entrance days in 2023 for national parks and national monuments in Northern California. Hike your favorite trails, picnic, explore, and enjoy nature with your friends and family. 2023 Free Entrance Days to Northern California National Parks and Monuments Here are the five days in 2023 that you can save your hard-earned money […]
2022 Free Entrance Days at Northern California National Parks and Monuments
There are six free-entrance days in 2022 for national parks and national monuments in Northern California. Hike your favorite trails, picnic, explore, and enjoy nature with your friends and family. 2022 Free Entrance Days to Northern California National Parks and Monuments Here are the six days in 2022 that you can save your hard-earned money […]
Best Whale Watching from Northern California Trails: Where, When, and How
Love whale watching in Northern California? Then hike coastal trails to spot gray, humpback, and blue, and fin whales from some of the prettiest coastline on the planet.
Exploring Angel Island’s Best Hiking Trails
Why walk Angel Island hiking trails? Primarily for the gorgeous vistas of San Francisco Bay, including San Francisco itself, along with the Golden Gate, plus the surrounding hills and mountains stretching off into the far distance. This detailed hiking trail description guides you along the North Ridge Trail and the Sunset Trail to the tippy-top […]
Want the Best San Francisco Hiking Trails? An Expert’s Favorites…
San Francisco hosts a variety of exceptional hiking trails. Want to know which are the best? Guidebook author Alexandra Kenin shares her favorite hikes at ocean beaches and parks throughout the city, along with the best hikes and walks for children and dogs. Alexandra Kenin is the author of the recently released guidebook Urban Trails: San […]
The Best Northern California Spring Backpacking Trips, 2025
Northern California is a great place for a spring 2025 backpacking trip! Here are the best low/middle elevation trails in the Bay Area, Northern Sierra Nevada, Lassen National Forest, Klamath Mountains, redwoods, and North Coast. You can hike many of them year-round, even in winter. Tired of Winter, Ready to Backpack This Spring, 2025? Wherever […]
Hike North Peak Montara Mountain: Stunning Bay Area Vista!
360-degree view! Hike to the summit of North Peak Montara Mountain via North Peak Access Road from Montara State Beach through McNee Ranch State Park and you’ll win a superb panorama of the San Francisco Bay Area and the Pacific Ocean, including the Farallon Islands. You’ll also see an impressive array of wildflowers and chaparral […]
Briones Regional Park Hiking Trails: Briones Peak Experience!
Briones Regional Park’s extensive network of hiking trails is capped by Briones Peak, which has expansive views of hills and mountains in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is Hike 97 in my book 100 Classic Hikes: Northern California, fourth edition (Mountaineers Books, 2018). The all-color guide contains 24 hikes in the Bay Area and […]
Point Reyes National Seashore Association Announces 2012 Trails Challenge
Point Reyes National Seashore Association (PRNSA) in partnership with the National Park Service announced the 2012 Point Reyes Trails Challenge today. The program is a fun and exciting way to inspire novice and experienced hikers to explore the Point Reyes National Seashore while raising funds to support critical trails and wildlife projects. This self-paced challenge […]
House-Sitting and Hiking in San Francisco
I’m mostly a country boy, but when I want culture and city life, I head to San Francisco. I love the people, the sounds, the great parks, the delicious food. And I mostly walk around the city, even if I have to go several miles; it’s a form of urban hiking. San Francisco is great […]
Exploring Tilden Regional Park Hiking Trails with Gambolin’ Man
I’ve always loved Tilden Regional Park. I hiked its winding trails several times back in the 1980s when I lived in nearby Alameda. Gambolin’ Man has created yet another photo-philosophical essay about Tilden, which is very close to home for him, and he describes going after recent bouts of heavy rain: Rain resuscitates a dried […]
East Bay Regional Park District Wins $10.2 Million Green Transportation Initiative Grant from U.S. Department of Transportation
Big congratulations to East Bay Regional Park District for winning a grant for a whopping 10.2 million bucks to make it easier for Bay Area residents to hike the trails and just get out in nature through its Green Transportation Initiative. I’ve had some minor involvement with grants for nonprofits I’ve volunteered for, and believe […]
East Bay Regional Park District Reception Living Landscape Book Signing
Living Landscape has just been published. The book details the first 75 years of the East Bay Regional Park District, including the development of many of its trails. East Bay Regional Park District Trails History I’m a big fan of the East Bay Regional Park District. I did a lot of hiking East Bay hiking […]
Dublin Hills Regional Park is the Latest East Bay Regional Park Addition
I spent many a pleasant afternoon hiking the trails and hillsides of the East Bay when I lived in Alameda from 1983 to 1985. I also did a few of the Bay Area hikes for 100 Classic Hikes in Northern California, but my co-author and brother Marc Soares had the pleasure of doing the majority […]
Vasco Caves Regional Preserve Acquires More Land
I’ve heard great things about Vasco Caves Regional Preserve and we just got some big news: East Bay Regional Parks District has just acquired more land for it. Here’s the news straight from the East Bay Regional Park District about the Vasco Caves addition: Park District Adds Major land acquisition to vasco caves regional preserve […]
California Coastal Clean-Up Day: Help Keep Your Favorite California Hiking Beaches Trash-Free
California Coastal Clean-Up Day is this Saturday, September 19. If you’re like me, you love hiking on beaches and coastal trails. When I lived in Crescent City, I walked Pebble Beach twice every day. (My golden retrievers insisted on it.) Here’s what sponsor California Coastal Commission says: California Coastal Cleanup Day is the premier volunteer […]
Ano Nuevo State Natural Reserve
Ano Nuevo State Natural Reserve is a treasure for its Northern Elephant Seals and its hiking trails. I’ve had Dave Miller’s exquisite Bay Area Outdoors blog in my RSS feed for several months, and I love his well-written descriptions of his Bay Area travels. But I’m absolutely crazy for the many, many exquisite photos he […]
Briones Regional Park Hiking Trails: Briones Peak
Briones Regional Park has an extensive network of hiking trails. In the hike described here, you will explore Alhanbra Creek and Maricich Lagoons, and then climb Briones Peak for views of rolling hills, Mounts Diablo and Tamalpais, and San Pablo and Suisun Bays. This is Hike 97 in my book 100 Classic Hikes: Northern California, fourth […]
Hiking Muir Woods National Monument Trails
Hike Muir Woods National Monument trails and see the redwoods stretch serenely to the sky. You can easily walk far enough away from the trailhead to leave the crowds behind and gain some solitude from the bustle of modern-day life. Speaking of crowds, it’s always best to visit Muir Woods on a weekday: Weekends are […]
Doin’s at Point Reyes National Seashore
I’ve always loved Point Reyes National Seashore, which has several hikes in 100 Classic Hikes in Northern California. It’s also one of the best places in Northern California for a spring backpacking trip. Here’s the latest from the Point Reyes National Seashore “Park Wavelengths” biweekly e-mail (which you can subscribe to): A bright full moon […]
Hiking North Peak Montara Mountain Trail
The Montara area, north of Half Moon Bay and south of Pacifica, has long had special significance for me. My oldest brother Eric Soares lived there from about 1996 until this summer, and I have spent many, many days in that beautiful area. We would often hike in the surrounding hills and take long walks on […]
Cows Attack Hikers!
I’ve hiked around cows my entire life, and there’s been several times when cattle have been aggressive toward me. Cows attack hikers? It definitely happens, as you’ll read below and especially in the comments. Many of the stories are from trails around the Bay Area in California. When Cows Attack Hikers Tom Mangan of the […]
