Urban Hiker SF

Urban Hiker SF has been around for a few months now, and since I started my company, I ’ve become much more connected with the city . I now notice minute architectural details, hidden alleyways...and, for the first time in my life, plants. I had never been a plant person, but, one day as I walked around the city with my father, a lifetime plant lover, he pointed out a nasturtium plant and told me that it was edible. Now he had my attention: as a foodie, I find plants infinitely more interesting when I also see them as food. Now that I know what to look for, I see numerous edible plants on a daily basis on my hikes. While the summer’s blackberries and plums have disappeared until next spring, there are a number of other edible plants around the Bay Area that you can enjoy year-round. Here’s a mini field guide to help you on your urban foraging expeditions. 1. Nasturtium You can identify nasturtiums by their jewel-toned yellow, orange, and red flowers as well by th...

When I refer to San Francisco as a playground for adults, I mean it in the most innocent of ways. While standard playgrounds are designed strictly with children in mind, scattered throughout the city are the unofficial playgrounds of slides and swings where kids of all ages can relive their childhoods. Here's how to find them: Slides 1) According to the SF City Guides , The Seward Street slides were born in 1973 when then 14-year-old Kim Clark won a contest to design the lower part of the Seward Mini Park. The slides are centrally located , and you can walk to them easily from the Mission or Castro. I've loved these slides in the past, but have been slightly turned off of late by a grumpy neighbor who occasionally threatens to call the police on visitors. You can read the Yelp reviews for more information on that situation. 2) I recently learned about the Bernal Heights Mini Park slides through one of my urban hikers (thanks Anita!). On Yelp, the first picture alone ...

I don't think I could love Bernal Hill more than I already do. Maybe it's the houses cozily nestled into the hillside, maybe it's the contrast of the light-colored land with the dark trees up top, or maybe it's the fact that it's close to my home . W hatever it is, the hill always draws me in.   Photo courtesy of: http://aios-staging.agentimage.com/tmontgomery_pending.com/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/bernal-1.jpg And I'm not the only fan of the hill. Bernal has a great vantage point over the city, so it's a popular neighborhood spot to bring your dog for a walk, to have a picnic, or to read a book. For runners, the hill has yet another layer of appeal. The roughly circular path around the base of the hill is exactly one mile long, so you can measure your runs in loops around the park. The microwave tower at the top of the hill is affectionately nicknamed " Sutrito Tower " after its larger to the northwest. The tower even h...

If you live in or near San Francisco, you are within a reasonably short drive of some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world - Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Napa and Sonoma Counties, and more. People travel from all over the world to visit these spots that are seemingly right in our backyard. But sometimes you might not feel like going away for the weekend to visit somewhere beautiful, and the reasons for sticking close to home are numerous: you may not want to deal with logistics, pay for a hotel, deal with traffic, etc. Or, like me, you might not even have a car with which to escape the city! Luckily for those of us who live in the Bay Area, we have many great options for getting out of the city by staying in the city . One of these such options is Glen Canyon Park . Glen Canyon Park is located within a 10 minute walk of Glen Park BART, and contains 70 acres of parkland. The terrain of the park is varied, but it's hard not to notice the myriad rock outcroppings through...

Recently, I decided to explore a new hiking route in the Presidio. Enchanted by the name Lover's Lane , I started my walk there with the goal in mind to reach Andy Goldsworthy's 'Spire' . If you haven't already visited this work, you can find it here .   Andy Goldsworthy's Spire I kept to the Lover's Lane path and in doing so, I almost missed the scene below - a snaking line of logs parallel to where I was walking. When I see nature expressed in an unnatural way, I tend to think Goldsworthy, but was this another one of his works? A quick Internet search revealed that this was indeed a Goldsworthy, and it was called "Wood Line".   Andy Goldsworthy's Wood Line According to presidio.gov's website , both "Spire and Wood Line are inspired by the park’s historic forest, planted by the Army beginning in the 1880s and being rejuvenated today. The cypress, pine, and eucalyptus groves have become part of ...

Urban hiking is about finding opportunity anywhere. Even if I don't know a place well, I try to get the lay of the land on foot. It's often much more interesting and rewarding than exploring by car. An example of this was that I was recently in Portland for Chris Guillebeau's World Domination Summit . The night before the conference, my cousin, a Portland native, invited me over for dinner. I hadn't rented a car, so I started thinking of ways I could get to his place. I turned to Google Maps and realized his house was located fewer than 5 miles away from my hotel downtown. When I looked at potential hiking routes to my cousin's home, I saw there were 3 parks on the way. My decision was made - I was going to urban hike to dinner! This ended up being a great experience. I hiked through Duniway Park , Marquam Nature Park , and  Council Crest Park , which I learned is one of the highest points in the entire city. Council Crest was definitely the highlight...

The goal of this blog is to discuss urban hiking as a general concept and to help people discover the hidden hiking gems in San Francisco and beyond. I created the company Urban Hiker SF and spend a lot of my time hiking around the city. By writing about San Francisco's hidden stairways, parks, and hiking trails, I want to awaken your sense of adventure, so you can explore these sights with me - or on your own!      Mosaic Steps at 16th and Moraga