Urban Hiker SF

If you know me, you know I love dogs. And my love of dogs doesn’t stop there, but extends to all canids. So when I heard about Wolf Connection , a wolf sanctuary tucked away in the mountains just an hour outside of Los Angeles, I knew I had to go.  I booked my visit through Airbnb Experiences , and while it wasn’t cheap, it was worth it, and the money goes straight to supporting the sanctuary and its animals. The day of my visit, I made the drive from Santa Monica deep into the Angeles National Forest. After about an hour, I arrived at the sanctuary, perched at 4,000 feet of elevation. The temperature was a perfect 86 degrees (perfect for me at least), a welcome break from the scorching 100+ degree heat I passed through in the Valley. The elevation means the sanctuary can also get coldy and snowy in the winter! Petting Wylie and a group howl   During a brief orientation, the 10-15 other visitors and I were offered some light snacks and water before the tour began. ...

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...

FYI — A map of the locations mentioned in this blog post is here:   Treasure Island Google MyMap ! San Francisco is one of the most expensive cities in the US. But this city also has an often-overlooked experience  $5 and that delivers joy every time. Allow me to introduce you to the Treasure Island Ferry .   Launched in 2022, the ferry offers a quick, 8-minute trip  across the bay, whisking you from the historic Ferry Building to the burgeoning downtown of Treasure Island, right in front of the Treasure Island Museum. Instead of taking a bus or driving, you could spend a few minutes on the water, feeling the wind in your hair and appreciating the San Francisco skyline.  The ferry ride is enchanting, and then there's also so much to do on Treasure Island. Here are five fantastic ways to make the most of your time there:     Eat Treasure Island has a number of delicious restaurants. I like walking to brunch and dining at the outdoor areas at A...

Just a 1.5-hour drive from San Francisco is the perfect day trip for just about anyone. Your drive will take you north to Sonoma — and specifically to Bartholomew Park .  Adjacent to this charming park with three miles of hiking trails, you’ll find Bartholomew Winery with tastings and picnic areas, and the option to go horseback riding with Sonoma Valley Trail Rides .  About the trails If you look at the trail map , you can see it’s easy to make a loop around the park. I like doing a clockwise loop starting on the Grape Stomp Trail and continuing on the You-Walk Miwok Trail.    While the trails are short in distance, you should know that they involve steep and rocky terrain and stairs without railings. You can hike with kids (and dogs are welcome, too), but I might avoid hiking with anyone who has balance issues or trouble with elevation gain, as the route involves about 640 feet of climbing. That said, I think the rocks and the s...

Note: Preorder bonus mentioned at the bottom of this post! On December 21, 2022, I hiked in Pulgas Ridge Open Space Preserve to explore the first route for my upcoming book,  Urban Trails: Peninsula and San Jose .  It took two and a half years to hike the remaining 49 routes, write them up, get them tested, and go through three intensive rounds of editing. After all that work, the book is finally ready for preorder on Amazon !     What's Inside the Book? Writing this book was largely a solo endeavor, so now I'm excited to share my work with you. Here's a bit about the book! The goal was to find hikes within a one-hour drive of San Jose. I chose 50 routes between Pacifica and Gilroy, which is a huge area. Here is a glimpse at the table of contents . I wanted routes with various difficulty levels, and aimed for 25% easy, 50% moderate, and 25% hard. That said, the Peninsula and South Bay are hilly, so here's where we ended up: 14% easy, 62% moderate, and 24...