Let the Adventures Begin!

The Weekend Sherpa Adventure Challenge is back for its sixth year! Don’t let the name intimidate you: it’s free and easy to participate. Just get outdoors over the next few months and take a photo of yourself in action! And we’re excited to be teaming up with Line 39—their wines are the perfect partner to weekend adventures.

Week: 05.18.2017
Regions: Northern & Southern CA

Sunol Salutations

Hiking a less-traveled trail in Sunol Regional Park

Ahh … Sunol in the spring could make John Steinbeck wax poetic about the land of milk and honey. This East Bay Regional Park is a rolling green open space of giant oak trees, wildflowers, hidden canyons, seasonal streams, and winding hiking trails. While most visitors head to Lit
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Tempe Temptations

Hiking at Bon Tempe Lake in Marin

Wildflowers, wildlife, and a wildly great view of Mount Tam as the backdrop … get your wows at Bon Tempe Reservoir, one of the five lakes on Mount Tam’s northern flank, and a water supply for many Marin homes. Ospreys soar overhead and evergreens tower all around as you hike the
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Bite-Size Torrey Pines

Three Short Hikes in Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve

Sometimes bite-size hikes deliver gourmet-size rewards! These coastal trails in Torrey Pines deliver astounding scenery in a park that is home to the rarest pine species in the country… yet they get overlooked by hikers looking for a longer trek. Don’t worry—you’ll still get a wo
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Diablo's Back Way

Hiking Mitchell Canyon Back Creek Loop at Mount Diablo State Park

A hike with sweeping East Bay vistas, rushing creeks, and colorful wildflowers—Mount Diablo’s got your back! As in Mitchell Canyon Back Creek Loop, a 7-mile (round-trip) hike with a bunch of spring’s best (and brightest!) features. You’ll have to work a bit—the hike ascends 1,700
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A Thousand Steps to Paradise

Staircase Hike in Laguna Beach

A picture is worth a thousand words, but is a gorgeous beach in Laguna worth a thousand steps? The answer is yes, though the question is moot, because it’s only 223 steep steps down to the 400-yard stretch of sand known as 1000 Steps Beach. Why the exaggeration? Originally, maybe
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Trending Stories NorCal

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  1. Sequoia Re-opens Crystal Cave

    Step inside Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park's hidden world by visiting the newly re-opened Crystal Cave—the only cave in the parks open to the public. Closed for four years, this rare marble karst cavern is welcoming visitors once again, but only through the summer season!

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  2. Afternoon on the Island

    What is it about tiny islands in the middle of lakes? There’s something that just draws you in. It’s even more fun when getting there is half the adventure because you have to reach it by canoe, kayak, paddleboat, or a ranger-guided boat tour!

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  3. Easiest Best Hike in the World

    Choose the easiest and most view-rewarding hike in Yosemite. Okay, we’ll go first: the combination of hiking to Sentinel Dome and Taft Point. Both of these lookouts are within a couple miles of each other on Glacier Point Road

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  4. Hiker in the forest at Mount Sutro in San Francisco

    San Francisco's Middle Earth

    No need to travel to New Zealand to visit Middle Earth. San Francisco’s Mount Sutro Open Space is practically Hobbiton—a hidden “shire” in the middle of the city. Okay, maybe not quite as magical, but still an incredible place to take a hike in city limits.

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Trending Stories SoCal

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  1. Locals' Feature: Jim Litchfield, Owner of Reno Fly Shop

    If there's a river, you're likely to find Jim Litchfield there. As the owner of Reno Fly Shop, Nevada's premier fly fishing outfitter and shop, Jim's passion for rivers knows no bounds: he's fished in places near and far, including Alaska, Bolivia and Christmas Island. But home is beautiful Reno, where he has been running Reno Fly Shop and leading tailored river float and fly fishing adventures (including beginner-friendly options) for over a decade.

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  2. Can't Top This

    San Francisco’s Presidio was already a fantastic place to hang out for the afternoon, a beautiful site within the largest urban national park in the United States (the Golden Gate National Recreation Area). And Presidio Tunnel Tops is like a cherry on top. Make that two cherries on top, with the newly opened (July 2025) Outpost Meadow, a 1.5-acre green space located at Old Mason Street across from the Crissy Field Marsh in the Presidio.

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  3. Volcanic Activity

    Northern California is home to one of the most unique ecosystems in the country: Lassen Volcanic National Park. The region features geothermal areas, including the largest dome volcano in the world, Lassen Peak. Hike to the top of this active volcano on a 5-mile out-and-back.  

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  4. Oh Ryan

    Sure, it’s those whimsical trees that give Joshua Tree National Park its marquee billing; but this beautiful landscape also has surrounding mountains and its night sky—one of the darkest in Southern California and designated an International Dark Sky Park. Joshua Tree has four allowable stargazing parking lots, and a newly opened haven for spending the night nearby...

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