Hit the Refresh Outdoors

It's been a wet and wild few months, but don't let that dampen your outdoors spirit. Here's a refresh of outdoor fun for post-rain greenery, scenery, starry skies, waterfalls, and wondrous wanders in the Bay Area.

Week: 03.06.2024
Regions: Northern CA

Taking the Stage: Tyler Ranch

Hike New Trails at Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park

Hike the recently opened Tyler Ranch Staging Area in Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park, with 18 miles of new trails. This 6.5-mile loop up Sunol Peak is a challenge and rewards with exceptional views of seasonal iridescent hills.
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Olympic National Park & Forest Lodging Deals!

Stay Near Olympic National Park at Historic Lodges

Washington State’s Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest get the gold medal for spring’s best lodging deal. Historic Lake Quinault Lodge—featured on PBS’s “Great Lodges of the National Parks”—is currently offering two nights for the price of one.
Get Two Nights for the Price of One at Lake Quinault Lodge

The Carson Show

Hiking to Carson Falls on Mount Tam

Carson Falls is ready for primetime. This three-tiered, 100-foot stunner is hidden back in a canyon outside of Fairfax and reached on a 3.25-mile (round-trip) hike.
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Sea-sonal Wonders

Tidepool and See Migrating Wildlife at Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz

You’ll need to go during low tides to safely enjoy tidepooling at Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz. As its name suggests, the beach has a natural arch and is an excellent spot for an intertidal adventure.
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Gray's in Fashion

Whale Watching at Pigeon Point Light Station on San Mateo Coast

Built in 1872, Pigeon Point Lighthouse is an iconic mainstay on the San Mateo Coast. Go in winter and get a big bonus: you might spy a gray whale migrating. Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic Park is one of the best places for spying them.
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Simply Suttonfield

Hike a loop around beautiful Lake Suttonfield in Glen Ellen

Tucked in charming Glen Ellen and accessed via a pullout parking area along Arnold Drive, Lake Suttonfield pours on the charm with an easygoing 2-mile trail loop around it.
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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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