Urban Hiker SF

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