2018's Top 10 Adventures in Northern California

New year's resolution: get outdoors more! Sounds good to us. We've rounded up some favorite adventures from 2018. Whether you check off one of these adventures or all ten, it's a great way to start the new year. Happy 2019!

Week: 12.27.2018
Regions: Northern CA

Coming Up Roses

Hiking Mt. Rose Summit in Lake Tahoe

Looking to spice up your hiking life? Give your partner a rose—Mount Rose! The 10-mile out-and-back peak hike goes up to one of the grandest views in all of Lake Tahoe. Get ready for a solid hiking day! The first few miles are a nice steady incline traversing sagebrush, lodgepole
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It's How You Roll!

Bike Ride to Wineries on Sonoma Valley's Backroads

Lush vineyards aren’t the only things rolling in Sonoma Valley these days. Casual cruiser biking is one of the best ways to see the sights and taste the wines! The key: Pedal the country roads and paved bike paths that start right from the historic plaza. Rent a bike at one of th
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2019 Local Hiking Calendar!

2019 Bay Area Hiking Calendar

Out with the old, in with the New Year—and a new calendar! Download your complimentary 2019 Hiking Calendar from Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) and try a different hike every month of the year (New Year’s resolution: a hike a month!). The POST Hiking Calendar gives you the bes
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Purisima Charisma

Hike Purisima Creek Redwoods on the San Mateo Coast

Hike Purisima Creek Open Space Preserve
Hundred-foot redwoods, a shaded canyon, and views overlooking Half Moon Bay. This 10-mile loop hike in Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve is a roller-coaster of uphill and downhill along with easygoing stretches through some of the Bay Area’s most beautiful landscape.
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America's Best Urban Hike

Hike San Francisco's Grand Walk, Sutro Baths to Crissy Field

Woman walking down the stairs overlooking the ocean on the Coastal Trail in San Francisco
Many years ago we dubbed it the “Grand Walk” and said it was one of the most scenic and stunning trails in the West. We were wrong. This is the most scenic urban hike in America!
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This Is Paradise

Camp at Paradise Lake in Tahoe National Forest

Granite mountain-scape, superb sunset views, crystal lakes, and shoreline campsites … the trip to Paradise Lake in Tahoe National Forest lives up to its idyllic name.
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Cal Secret Spots

Explore UC Berkeley's Secret Spots

In its bustling urban setting, UC Berkeley’s campus may seem like an open book, but it’s actually home to spots that are off the beaten path, even for students. Find less-known gems at Cal, including several that are outdoors.
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All in for Alamere

Hike to Alamere Falls in Point Reyes

If you’re crazy about the ocean, the beach, and waterfalls, Bolinas’s Coast Trail is bound to become one of your all-time favorite spring hikes. It’s got one killer cliffside view after another and a classic climax: Alamere Falls, a 50-foot tumbler that launches off a cliff into
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Goat Yoga!

Do Yoga with Baby Goats at Lemos Farm in Half Moon Bay

Baby Goats roam about as people take part in a yoga session at Goat Yoga at Lemos Farm in Half Moon Bay.
Downward dog, meet goat. As in Goat Yoga at Lemos Farm in Half Moon Bay. The fifteen or so baby goats roaming the barn-turned-yoga-studio here are the yogi partners you never knew you needed.
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Carson Calling

Find the Hot Springs at East Fork Carson River

Along the banks of the East Fork Carson River, brushing the California–Nevada border, sits a series of hot spring pools surrounded by high desert. The springs have for years been a sanctuary for rafters and kayakers making their way down the river, but ambitious hikers and backpa
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Peak Pacifica

Hike to Pacifica's Montara Peak from Gray Whale Cove

Lingering wildflowers and sweeping Pacifica views … this 1,900-foot peak hike up Pacifica’s Montara Mountain has it all, including a beach ending! Start at the Gray Whale Cove trailhead on the southeast side of its namesake parking lot (arrive early, parking fills quickly here).
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Trending Stories NorCal

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  1. Serene Las Gallinas

    A serene stroll alongside marshland, passing ponds and grasses frilled in seasonal wildflowers, with Mount Tam a beacon in the background … how nice. As part of the esteemed Bay Trail, San Rafael’s Las Gallinas Valley Birding Loop and Wildlife Ponds comprises about 3.5 miles of wide-open trail.

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  2. Paint Brushy

    This time of year you’ll have good reason to head for the hills—the electric-green rolling hills of Brushy Peak Regional Preserve in Livermore. This 4.5-mile loop hike is like stepping into a plein air painting.

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  3. Sponsored

    2025 POST Wildflower Walks

    Get flower empowered! POST’s complimentary 2025 Wildflower Walks guide blooms with the best places to see a variety of florals across the Peninsula and South Bay this spring.

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  4. All right, Almaden!

    Take a trip through time on this 5-mile loop in Almaden Quicksilver County Park. Explore the ruins of an old cinnabar mine and enjoy the first hints of wildflower season.

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Trending Stories SoCal

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  1. Sponsored

    Weekend in Reno Tahoe

    Weekend plans? Reno Tahoe! Just a few hours by car or a short flight away, Reno Tahoe springs to the moment with great ways to combine adventure and relaxation in its beautiful mountains-meets-desert setting.

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  2. Hiker walking along the North Bluff Trail on Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park

    Purely Wild

    Channel Islands National Park lives up to its nickname as “North America’s Galapagos.” This less-traveled national park is an undeveloped and isolated series of five dramatic and distinct islands reached by boat. Hike the largest of the islands, Santa Cruz.

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  3. Woman hiking the South Kaibab Trail in the Grand Canyon

    Truly Grand Day Hike

    One of the best spring day hikes in the Grand Canyon? See layer upon layer of the park’s grandeur—including the river—on this 3-mile (one-way) journey to Skeleton Point via the South Kaibab Trail.

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  4. A woman stands amid an array of yellow and purple flowers at Descanso Gardens in Los Angeles

    Petal Paradise

    Tulips, lilacs, and daffodils—flower power is in full bloom at Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge. Sprawling across 150 acres surrounded by mountains, the gardens are putting on their best show right now.

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