Get up early to drive into the hills and park in the main lot, which opens 30 minutes before sunrise. This will leave you with enough time to make your way to the peak through the wildflower-scattered trails and watch the sunrise over the Bay.
A board member of the Farallon Islands Foundation, Bob Lewis has taught birding classes in the Bay Area for over 25 years. In his Around the World in 80 Birds presentation, he shares ornithological photos from his travels to Madagascar, Borneo, Hawaii, Indonesia, New Guinea, New Zealand, and Cuba.
Named after the legendary Big Sur female pioneer and rancher, Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park stands out even among the rest of the region's attractions. The park features stands of centuries-old redwood trees and provides a haven for a variety of California wildlife, though it's best known for the 80-foot-high McWay Falls, an impressive cascade that drops directly from a sheer cliff to the sandy beach below.
This quaint little town, surrounded by green pastures and granite cliffs, is the northern gateway to the High Sierra. Bridgeport always evokes nostalgia and is one of my favorite views of the Eastern Sierra. In my younger years, it was all about the resorts, and Bridgeport was a place to stretch the legs on the way to Mammoth Mountain. Now, I look more to the backcountry trailheads, and Bridgeport has become an alluring area along the 395 corridor.
City staff estimate it would cost approximately $1.2 billion to meet its goal of adding 87 more acres of parkland. That figure is based on Mountain View's current population, and does not account for future growth. "Significant funding would be needed to develop new parks or to update our parks," Assistant Community Services Director Kristine Crosby said at the Jan. 27 council meeting.
The Wildcat Canyon Flow Trail would be located in the western portion of the park, north of Wildcat Creek Trail on a hillside near the Mezue Road intersection. It would feature rollers, essentially speed bumps meant to slow bikes, jumps, berms and turnout areas to keep riders from skidding off. The proposed trail would be up to 4-feet-wide with an average grade of 5 to 7%.
Times are hard, but don't believe the rumors about the death of the Bay Area art scene. Yes, art institutions and galleries are closing. Yes, the techies have taken over, outpricing artists and polluting culture with their AI inventions. But there's an inherent spirit of rebellion to the region that won't be quashed so easily, and an inspired community that fights for it every day.
A strip of a former rail line through Southwest Berkeley will be transformed this year into the city's newest park, boasting community gardens, children's play areas and a dog park across four long-neglected blocks. An extensive environmental clean-up for the quarter-mile stretch of the old Santa Fe rail corridor between Blake and Ward streets is set to get underway this spring, Parks Director Scott Ferris told Berkeleyside.
Hampstead Heath is one of London's most treasured parks. It's home to one of the best views of the London skyline, a Grade-II listed lido, three of the city's most beloved bathing ponds, a zoo, a grand manor house and acres of glorious woodland. And over the next five years, there are big plans to introduce even more attractions and conservation schemes to the space.
You may dream of seeing the geysers of Yellowstone or the overwhelming greatness of the Grand Canyon, but chances are you have a handful of little wonders in your own backyard. State parks like Goblin Valley in Utah hold their own against the neighboring Arches National Park (or Canyonlands, for that matter), while Maine's Baxter State Park is arguably just as wild as the well-known Acadia National Park (Baxter doesn't even have running water!). Plus, state parks tend to be less crowded and more affordable-two things that bode well for overnight guests.
The Guest Cabin at Wondernut Farm, Big Oak Flat Wondernut Farm's quaint one-room cabin (Courtesy of Nic Castellanos via Hipcamp) Overlooking the property owners' 115-year-old barn and garden, the guest cabin at Wondernut Farm is, perhaps, the perfect minimalist retreat for those seeking a bit of respite from our electronic devices. Glampers who choose to spend an evening or more underneath the tin steel roofed cabin can expect a cacophony of chorused musings to help wake them up everyday.
Stone said his vote is influenced by a letter the council received last month from the Santa Clara County Medical Association, which represents more than 4,000 local health professionals. The letter outlined doctors' concerns about the health impacts of synthetic fields, and recommended the council vote against turf. "When our county doctors are telling us that a proposed solution may do harm and offer an alternative, I believe we have the responsibility to choose that safer path even when it's harder," Stone said.