Coasting Along

Cooler temps, crisp days mixed in with warming sunshine—it’s time to coast. Here’s your cabin getaway with beaches and bluff hikes to round out the fun and relaxation.

Week: 02.01.2023
Regions: Northern & Southern CA

Marvelous Mar Vista

Stay at Mar Vista Farm and Cottages on Mendocino Coast

Mar Vista Farm and Cottages on the Mendocino Coast
Two people in the u-pick gardens at Mar Vista Farm and Cottages on the Mendocino Coast
Demurely located on the southern Mendocino Coast, Mar Vista Farm and Cottages charms you from check-in. Roll up to 11 beautifully appointed private cottages, complete with kitchens and farmhouse decor. The sprawling u-pick veggie garden and outdoor redwood soaking tub are calling your name.
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Hike Pelican Bluffs Preserve

Hike at Pelican Bluffs Preserve on Mendocino Coast

Tucked just south of Point Arena, the 73-acre Pelican Bluffs Preserve is an ideal blufftop hike with expansive views of the dramatic Mendocino coastline. A 2.2-mile trail starts in a bishop-pine forest before breaking out to wide-open coastal vistas.
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Super Bowling

Visit Bowling Ball Beach on the Mendocino Coast

Hidden along the Mendocino Coast, Bowling Ball Beach lives up to its name, and then some! Giant smoothly rounded boulders (some 12 feet across) are scattered along the beach, and it’s a phenomenal spectacle.
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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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