Walk, Hike, Run Bernal

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. Whatever 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 has its own twitter account.

If you want to visit the park and are coming from points north, take Folsom Street south, cross Cesar Chavez past Precita Park, and head all the way up the hill (it's steep, but just for a few blocks). When you see this house, you've almost made it. The park begins where Folsom Street ends.

Comments

The San Francisco Roundabout Trail - An urban hike fueled by determination, grit, and pain meds

On October 5, 2025, five of us met before dawn at the corner of John Muir Drive and Sklyine Boulevard. Our goal: Complete the new 38-mile Roundabout Trail . To walk the route in one day, we’d have to keep our bodies moving for over half a day with minimal stops, witnessing the sunrise, the full day, and the sunset. I’d walked up to 34 miles in a day on the NYC Shorewalkers Great Saunter , but 38-miles was terra incognita for me. Internalizing my learnings from the Great Saunter, I popped some “vitamin I” — or ibuprofen before we even started walking. Stats: Distance: 41.67 miles — 3 miles longer than predicted. Every extra step hurt. Steps: 81k steps — and I felt every single step beyond 60k. Time: 14 hours on the dot (6:30 am - 8:30 pm including all stops). Company: Started with 5, picked up 4 en route, and ended with 4 The Roundabout Trail is broken into five sections, and we decided to start somewhere in the middle of section 4 w...

Why Amtrak’s Coast Starlight between San Francisco and Los Angeles is a traveler’s delight

I love the magic of train travel. The soothing movement of the cars, the rhythmic sound of the wheels on the rails, watching the ever-changing landscapes flash by in front of your eyes, what’s not to love? This is exactly why I had a trip on Amtrak’s Coast Starlight train on my to-do list for so long. We finally got to experience this route for ourselves on a trip from the Bay Area to LA in February 2025. The Coast Starlight runs daily between Seattle and Los Angeles. There are six stops in Washington, six in Oregon, and a whopping eighteen in California. The full route takes 35 hours, and the Amtrak website asserts it’s “widely regarded as one of the most spectacular of all train routes.” For Bay Area travelers, there are three Amtrak stations to choose from: Emeryville, Oakland, and San Jose. Given traffic from San Francisco to the East Bay, and given the train timing, we opted to take Caltrain from 4th Street to San Jose’s Diridon Station. We knew we were going to...

Hike all of SF Post 6: Lake Merced Loop

I'm on a mission to #hikeallofsf . These are the stories of my hikes. _______________ ______________________________ _________ The Lake Merced Loop at 4.2 or 4.5 miles Hike Name: Lake Merced Loop Distance: 4.2 - 4.5 miles Elevation: <100 feet Difficulty: Easy to moderate Time: 1.5 - 2 hours Dog Friendly: Yes, on leash Hike Description Lake Merced is located in the Lakeshore neighborhood in the southwestern corner of San Francisco. The Lake Merced loop is not the most scenic hike in San Francisco, nor it is the most peaceful. Despite these negatives, what I like about this hike is that it carries a certain sense of accomplishment with it. It’s a good enough distance that you’re going to be walking for an hour to an hour and a half, and you get to circle an entire natural lake and bird habitat. Much of this route is flanked with busy roads - namely Lake Merced Boulevard, John Muir Drive, and Skyline Drive, so expect to hear some leve...

Urban Hiker SF

Search This Blog