Alviso Marina County Park is the gateway to the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. You can picnic and launch your small boat in this 20-acre park along Alviso Slough, at the southern... [read more]

Año Nuevo is one of the few places in the world where you can see northern elephant seals and their pups during breeding and birthing season, mid-December to mid-March. Tens of thousands of people flock... [read more]

The entire Cowell-Purisima Trail is 3.6 miles one way, but a short section through the Purisima Creek watershed, about 2 miles from the northern trailhead, is inaccessible to wheelchair riders because of the terrain.  From... [read more]

The Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, the first and largest urban national wildlife refuge in the United States, is just one piece of the larger San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge Complex.... [read more]

Half Moon Bay, the oldest town in San Mateo County, lies along a gently curving, sandy shore that is protected as parkland. Stretching for nearly four miles north to south is Half Moon Bay State... [read more]

A small network of trails (only Jean Lauer Trail is accessible) winds throughout the 119-acre Pillar Point Bluff that offers spectacular ocean views. Due west you might see the infamous Mavericks surf break, Half Moon... [read more]

This 243-acre natural preserve is part of Pescadero State Beach and is an important wintering ground for waterfowl on the Pacific Flyway. It lies on the eastern side of Highway 1 and surrounds the confluence of the... [read more]

Perched on a cliff on the central California coast, 50 miles south of San Francisco, the 115-foot Pigeon Point Lighthouse, one of the tallest lighthouses in America, has been guiding mariners since 1872. This small... [read more]

Approximately 25 miles south of San Francisco, in the small town of Princeton, Pillar Point Harbor is a home port for commercial and sport fishing boats and a take-off point for whale watching, scuba diving,... [read more]

Shoreline Lake Park was originally a landfill accepting garbage from San Francisco, but the city of Mountain View turned it into a 750-acre recreation area with an 18-hole golf course and driving range, a 50-acre... [read more]

If you happen to be in the area and looking for a short level hike Wavecrest Open Space might be worth checking out. It’s an important site for wintering raptors, so you might get lucky... [read more]