Articles, National Parks, Northern California, San Francisco Bay Area

Five Good Day Trips from San Francisco

by Lee Foster

The diversity of possible daytrips amounts to a special pleasure for those fortunate enough to live in the San Francisco area or visit here. Perhaps you haven’t treated yourself recently to an excursion from the city. Or maybe you are a potential visitor wanting to look around. Some of these suggested daytrips may already be your past favorites, but you’ll be surprised to note what has changed if you retrace your steps.

As a daytripper, you probably have a time frame in mind. Five suggested trips require only a day each. The writeups include the major sights and a restaurant for a culinary interlude. Five further trips can easily absorb an overnight. These writeups offer the principal sights, a possible lodging, and a recommended restaurant. (The five overnight trips are in the section Good Overnight Trips from San Francisco.)

MUIR WOODS

When you want to see the famous California redwoods, close to San Francisco, proceed to 560-acre Muir Woods (or Memorial-Big Basin Parks, trip 5).

Muir Woods satisfies partly because it honors the great conservationist, John Muir, who wrote so eloquently about the California outdoors, helping to create the constituency needed to protect redwoods and other treasures. For the preservation of Muir Woods we have Marin resident William Kent to thank. Theodore Roosevelt suggested at the 1908 dedication that the woods be named after this patron, but Kent declined and indicated that Muir’s name would be a more appropriate title. What more fitting place could be imagined at which to commune with the redwoods, which are the tallest living things on the earth.

To get to the tallest tree, which is about 367 feet, you would have to journey further afield, to the California Redwood Park near the Oregon border. The trees at Muir Woods, however, are 240 feet high and 16 feet wide. (If such a trip launches you to pursue further California arboreal superlatives, you could also proceed to the most massive tree on the earth, the General Sherman inland redwood at Sequoia National Park, or the oldest living thing on the earth, the bristlecone pines in the White Mountains, outside of Bishop.)

The drive to Muir Woods is an easy 17-mile outing, but allow plenty of time because the road twists and turns along Mt. Tamalpais State Park. Drive north from San Francisco across the Golden Gate and follow Highway 101 to the Highway 1 turnoff. Muir Woods is clearly marked at the Panoramic Highway turnoff 2-1/2 miles west on Highway 1. Parking can be tight at the site because of its popularity, so choose an off day if possible or prepare to walk a short distance to get to the entrance.

The redwood grove at Muir Woods has a hushed, sacral aura, with the choicest section appropriately called Cathedral Grove. The trees extend down a narrow valley with a stream, a typical redwood terrain with an undergrowth of sorrel and ferns. Deep within the grove the light diminishes and few other plants can compete. In late autumn you can see coho salmon and steelhead rainbow trout migrating up this stream, Redwood Creek. In summer the coastal fog drips off the redwood branches, providing a substantial amount of moisture.

The farther you walk from the parking lot, the fewer people you will see. If equipped with walking shoes, a knapsack lunch, and bottle of wine, you can find pleasing picnic spots on the edge of Muir Woods where the trails meet Tamalpais Park (picnicking is discouraged within Muir Woods). Hillside, Fern Creek, and Ben Johnson are three trails that lead away from the central grove. For the ambitious hiker, Ben Johnson Trail can be followed four miles down to Stinson Beach.

The gift shop at Muir Woods sells an authentic, pleasing California gift–a redwood burl. A burl is a part of the redwood tree that can regenerate the whole tree, a remarkable adaptive trait that has allowed redwoods to thrive and dominate within the coastal forests. You simply put the burl in a shallow dish, flood part of it with water, and watch the tree sprout. The effect is not one of instant gratification, but over time the burl does sprout and the redwood begins to grow. For years the redwood will continue to thrive from the food stored within the burl, growing ever larger. I have watched as burl gifts sprouted and grew for a decade.

For a restaurant repast, backtrack to Sausalito. Consider, after a walk in the quiet of the groves, a drink and a casual meal of shrimp fajitas on the deck of Margaritaville (415/331-3226), which gives you a view of the marina. The No Name and Patersen’s, a few doors apart opposite the downtown park, are popular watering holes.

BERKELEY-OAKLAND

A visitor, you are likely to find, will already have some strong impressions about what Berkeley and Oakland are all about. Berkeley is perhaps less of a divisive symbol of activism today than it was in more strident times, and Oakland, with its booming port, is less a model of the down-and-out urban area, but these images linger in the public imagination.

The East Bay is one daytrip easily accessible on public transit by taking BART to the University of California and to the Oakland Museum of California. However, if you want to travel beyond those destinations, a car will be useful unless you are adept at discerning bus routes.

For a day in the East Bay, you’ll need to make some choices, but here are the main attractions.

The University and adjacent Telegraph Avenue are always interesting to stroll. If you park at the public garage on Channing, just below Telegraph, you can plunge in.

Walk Telegraph Avenue from Channing down to Dwight and then cross the street and walk back to the University. Telegraph Avenue is a kaleidoscope of humanity, a cluster of bookstores, and a collection of coffeeshops that invite lingering. August can be quiet on Telegraph, but as school starts in September and as the Christmas season arrives, Telegraph becomes a carnival of street vendors selling their crafts. Moe’s (2476 Telegraph Avenue) is the major bookstore. Moe’s, located on several floors, offers a large selection of used books. At Cafe Intermezzo, near the corner of Haste and Telegraph, you can nurse a cappuccino and watch the passing parade.

To enter the University, walk across Bancroft and approach the Sather Gate. On your left is the Student Union, where you can get a free walking map of the campus at the Visitor Center (510/642-5215). Every Monday-Friday at 10 a.m. (and 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday) there is a 90-minute guided walking tour. On your right, beyond Sather Gate, is the Sather Tower, popularly known as the campanile, the major symbol of the University. East on Bancroft, the Lowie Museum manages exhibits on American Indians and other ethnics. The University Art Museum (2626 Bancroft Way) hosts traveling shows.

Then drive into the hills behind the University, up Centennial Drive, to the University Botanical Garden, an excellent picnic spot with strategically-located tables in the different plant communities. Besides the plantings from several continents. on the south side of the road, cross to the young redwood forest on the north side.

Above the Botanical garden, also on Centennial Drive, is the Lawrence Hall of Science. This promontory offers excellent sunset views of San Francisco and the Golden Gate. The wonder of science and technology, the subject presented inside, appeals to both adult and child visitors.

Tilden Park sprawls for thousands of acres across the Berkeley Hills. My favorite enclave in this vast park is the California native plant garden, technically called the Regional Parks Botanic Garden. This garden is a wonderful site at which to meditate over the diverse beauty of the Golden State.

The Oakland Museum of California (1000 Oak Street, 510/238-2200), is a major resource. The state’s natural history, human story, and art occupy three tiers of the museum.

Strolling around Lake Merritt is a favorite weekend activity in the East Bay. Park along Bellevue Avenue for a walk along the scenic boathouse and bandstand side of the lake.

The Jack London Square at the foot of Broadway contains London’s purported cabin from the Yukon and Heinhold’s Saloon, where London supposedly polished his literary skills.

For an East Bay restaurant, try McCormick & Schmidt, formerly Spenger’s (1919 4th Street, Berkeley, 510/845-7771), where several generations of seafood enthusiasts have enjoyed themselves.

STANFORD UNIVERSITY

In 1881, after the tragic death from typhoid fever of their 16-year-old son in Florence, Italy, Leland Stanford and his wife turned their 8,200-acre stock farm in Palo Alto into the Leland Stanford Jr. University so that “the children of California may be our children.”

Today this cerebral farm, home for 13,000 students and an establishment of medical and technical professionals, is well worth a visit.

Drive south from San Francisco along Highway 101 and turn onto University Avenue, which takes you through the heart of Palo Alto, once known as Professorville. University Avenue becomes Palm Drive after you cross the El Camino Real. As you proceed up Palm Drive, stop at the University Museum of Art. The Museum shows memorabilia of Stanford and describes how he rose from a Sacramento hardware man to become the railroad builder and governor. One of the appealing California Indian exhibits is a Yurok canoe carved from a single redwood log.

Continue on Palm Drive to the oval parking area. Immediately in front of you is the most historic part of the University, the Main Quadrangle, a sandstone enclosed courtyard in the Romanesque style, with archways and thick walls. Red tile roofs inadvertently echo the missions. Memorial Church, dedicated in 1903, was Mrs. Stanford’s memorial to her husband.

Walk east from the main quadrangle to the Hoover Tower, the 285-foot landmark. You can take an elevator to the top. The tower houses the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace, which has substantial collections of papers and books related to world conflicts. At the base of the tower you’ll find a museum room honoring Herbert Hoover, the Stanford graduate and engineer whose enduring legacy was not his presidential years, but his earlier feat, as Secretary of the Interior, when he negotiated successfully among the Southwestern states the agreement to construct the Hoover Dam. Without the dam’s Colorado River water, hydro-electrical power, and flood control, life in California and the West would be substantially different today.

To get a feel for campus life, walk from the Hoover Tower to Tresidder Union and stop for a food/beverage break. You’ll pass such landmarks as the Main Library, Encina Hall, and the Campus Bookstore. If you haven’t visited Stanford in recent years, the addition of outdoor sculpture has changed the physical look of the campus.

For a delightful restaurant, try MacArthur Park (27 University Avenue, 650/321-9990). To get there, as you leave Palm Drive to enter Palo Alto, turn right after you pass under the railroad trestle. The restaurant resides in an ample white-painted building, a World War I hostess house designed by Julia Morgan for Camp Fremont, in Menlo Park. Try the mesquite charcoaled swordfish or fish of the day.

SAN MATEO COAST

The San Mateo coast between the Montara and Pigeon Point lighthouses offers a bucolic seaside drive with beaches, farmlands, and two small coastal towns. Morning fogs tend to burn off by noon, so plan this as an afternoon outing. The road is relatively straight, compared to the rollercoaster rides possible along the coast north of San Francisco or in Big Sur.

Pick up Interstate 280, then Highway 1, at the southwest edge of San Francisco and drive along the coast. At Pacifica, pause and drive inland along Linda Mar Boulevard. Where the road intersects with Adobe Lane, you’ll find the Sanchez Adobe, a whitewashed structure completed in 1846 during the Mexican era. This is the only adobe in San Mateo county open to the public. Memorabilia at the adobe recall the era of Francisco Sanchez, mayor of San Francisco and commandant of militia under the Mexican Republic. Moving south along Highway 1, you pass the treacherous Devil’s Slide area where road washouts periodically occur.

In Montara, stop at the Montara Lighthouse. Turn toward the sea where you notice a small Youth Hostel sign. After several major shipwrecks along this coast, the lighthouse was built in 1875, first as a fog signal station with a deep whistle run by coal-generated steam power. Today the grounds are open to the public and the buildings function as a rustic all-ages hostel.

Proceeding south, at the fishing village of Princeton, watch the boats return and see what the sea has offered up as prizes. Several sport-fishing charters leave from Princeton. Shops and restaurants offer seafood. Ketch Joanne (650/728-3747) serves tasty shrimp and crab sandwiches.

Next you’ll encounter the original and main coastside community, Half Moon Bay, once called Spanishtown and populated by the Spanish as early as the 1830s. Today floriculture is big business here, managed in massive greenhouses. Take a stroll on Main Street, where the blue Zaballa House (326 Main) is the most historic building. South of town, the landmark to see is the white Johnston House, poised up on a hillside. It’s amazing that this New England-style “saltbox” house could have been built in the roadless, isolated area in 1853. Hand-hewn redwood timbers were floated ashore from ships at high tide. The setting exudes a certain longing, such as one feels in Andrew Wyeth’s painting, Christina’s World.

Many beaches attract visitors south of Half Moon Bay, with San Gregorio and Pescadero among the most popular. The inland roads along the coast are also appealing. Drive inland south of Tunitas along Stage Road to the juncture of Stage and La Honda Roads, site of the Peterson & Alsford General Store, built in 1899. They sell everything from Levis to kerosene lamps, but mainly the establishment provides a friendly ambiance for locals and visitors around its bar.

Proceed on Stage Road to the small community of Pescadero, which means fishermen in Spanish. At Duarte’s Restaurant (650/879-0464), try the cioppino or grilled fish-of-the-day, followed by dessert of local olallieberry pie. When you drive the mile west to the sea from Pescadero, you pass Pescadero Marsh, one of the most important remaining habitats along the coast for birdlife (180 species have been recorded here). Be sure to pack your binoculars.

Pigeon Point, five miles south, is one of the major architectural legacies among lighthouses along the U.S. Pacific coast. The brick structure, the second tallest lighthouse on the coast, is open on weekends. Wooden houses on the site function as an all-ages hostel, similar to Montara. A generation of houses in nearby Pescadero were painted white after the SS Columbia wrecked here in 1896, floating landward its cargo of white paint.

MEMORIAL-BIG BASIN REDWOOD PARKS

Redwood parks south from San Francisco are as inviting and are far less crowded than Muir Woods. Memorial Park in San Mateo County is quite close and is particularly cool and pleasing in the heat of summer. Big Basin is a longer drive and a much larger park.

Redwoods have a capacity to inspire wonder, especially those at Big Basin, partly because of their age. At park headquarters you’ll see a cross section of one tree that has been ring-dated as 2,200 years old. When the Romans flourished, this tree was young. But the tree may in fact be countless eons older. Most redwoods sprout clonally from the roots of their parent tree rather than from seeds. This same tree may have perpetuated itself in this fashion for thousands upon thousands of years. (If the trees at Muir Woods seem impressive, know that the tallest tree there, at 240 feet, is dwarfed by the 329-foot tallest tree at Big Basin. The acreage of virgin timber at Big Basin is also much larger than that at Muir Woods.)

The ride to these parks on Skyline Boulevard takes you along the spine of the mountains. Drive south from San Francisco along Interstate 280, turn west on Highway 92, and proceed south on Highway 25 (Skyline). As with coastal outings, this terrain can be foggy in the morning, but tends to burn off in the afternoon, so plan an afternoon excursion if possible. If you drive Skyline in fog, the experience is otherworldly as the fog sweeps past you.

Memorial Park is a small, choice 560-acre redwood park at 9500 Pescadero Road (650/879-0238). From Skyline, turn south on La Honda Road to La Honda. The park is 5-1/2 miles beyond La Honda on Pescadero Road.

Memorial Park, which honors World War I soldiers, has impressive first-growth redwoods and two interesting nature trails, plus a small interpretive center explaining both nature and the logging history of the region. The two trails are the short Tanoak Trail that meanders through the streambed area and the more ambitious mile-long Mt. Ellen Nature Trail, an excellent introduction to the redwood forest environment. Be sure to pick up leaflets for these self-guided trails at the ranger station.

Big Basin Redwoods State Park, originally called California Redwood State Park, was established in 1902 as the first park in our state park system. To reach Big Basin (408/338-8860), leave Skyline Boulevard via Highway 236.

When you arrive at Big Basin Park headquarters, pause for a few minutes at the Nature Lodge, which celebrates the park’s history, flora, and fauna. Then walk the nearby Redwood Nature Trail, which has the noblest stand of coastal redwoods south of San Francisco. You make the acquaintance of the massive Santa Clara Tree and the Chimney Tree, whose core has been hollowed by fire. An additional 60 miles of hiking trails twist through the park.

The Bella Vista restaurant (13451 Skyline Blvd., 650/851-1229) offers a remarkable view toward the bay, a cordial bar, and culinary pleasures such as veal oscar or fillet of salmon.

(To continue a discussion of the pleasure of trips near San Francisco, see the section Five Good Overnight Trips from San Francisco.)

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Copyright © 2009 Lee Foster, Foster Travel Publishing. All rights reserved.

This article was written by Lee Foster of Foster Travel Publishing. Contact Lee at .

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Tagged: Berkeley, Big Basin Redwoods State Park, California, Half Moon Bay, Muir Woods National Monument, Oakland, Palo Alto, San Francisco