All Stories from Northern CA

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  Steep Sleep

  Perhaps the best deal in the Bay Area: an oceanfront cabin at Steep Ravine for $100. The challenge? Actually reserving one of these popular cabins! Don’t be dissuaded; the effort is well worth it.

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  Lighthouse ZZZs

  It’s the closest point of land to the Hawaiian Islands in the continental United States and it might well be the best view on the coast. The historic 115-foot lighthouse tower at P

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  Happy Ending

  Everybody loves a happy ending. And one of the happiest endings in Northern California is where the Russian River empties into the Pacific. Get a front row seat to witness this won

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  Coast the Holiday

  When you need to break up the holiday routine, just take it SLO. San Luis Obispo is a Central Coast destination that has just about everything for a quick escape: uncrowded beaches

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  Fall-filling Yosemite

  A cool thing is happening in Yosemite National Park right now. The summer crowds are gone and the valley is alive with waterfalls ... and the colors of fall. Time to get out of you

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  River of Bicycle Dreams

  Cycling without having to worry about cars? Hooray! Cycling beside a gently flowing river through fall foliage? Double hooray! The Sacramento River Trail in Redding lives up to its

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  Miley Menagerie

  You’ll need to go up the hill and through the trees to get to the hidden expanse of San Francisco’s Fort Miley. Tucked behind Lands End and with a picnic table and solo grill, the

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  Battery Powered

  Modern artwork discovered inside a gun battery? Voices coming from within an old military installation? It’s not Stranger Things. The Presidio’s historic military structures overlo

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  Happy (Beer) Trails!

  The perfect autumn trek: exploring a mountain town in the sunny high desert that also happens to be the craft beer capital of America. Get outta beer! Bend, Oregon’s legendary Ale

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  Three Falling

  Three waterfalls, and fewer people. McCloud Falls might be the best waterfall hike in Northern California. There are bigger waterfalls in the state, but it’s the whole package that makes this 4-mile (round-trip) hike truly memorable.

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  A Shot of Whiskey

  Whiskeytown Falls is a relative newcomer. While a few locals knew of its existence, it wasn’t largely shared, and there wasn’t a trail—until 2004. That’s when park biologist Russ W

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  Burney Man!

  Upon first seeing Burney Falls, President Theodore Roosevelt called it one of the wonders of the world: a 129-foot waterfall gushing 100 million gallons every single day. This baby

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  Autumn-tastic Adventures

  Waterfalls year round, hiking and biking trails filled with fall colors, famously sunny days—are you Redding for autumn? You should be! Redding is the trails capital of California,

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  Lost and Found

  Maybe it’s the name. Or that it’s found along California’s longest stretch of undeveloped coast. Either way, the remote beauty of Humboldt County’s Lost Coast inspires a mystique u

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  National Park Hideaways

  Looking for an autumn + winter wonderland minus the ski resort chaos? Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks are the place for legendary leaf peeping and winter adventures without

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  High Five!

  Big thanks to the many adventurers who successfully completed the 5th annual Weekend Sherpa Adventure Challenge! Hiking, biking, kayaking, camping, sunsets, beaches, waterfalls, ho

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  Alabama Backdrop

  Despite being named for a Confederate warship, the CSS Alabama, there’s nothing Southern about the Alabama Hills. This range of rocky hills between the eastern slopes of the Sierra

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  Golden Guadalupe

  You’re in the South Bay, you have time for only a short hike, and early fall colors are a bonus. Oak-ey dokey! Head to Guadalupe Oak Grove Park and circle it in a mile-long hike wi

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  Lone Oasis

  Every summer, thousands travel to Whitney Portal in the Eastern Sierra to summit Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous United States. But thousands more are denied the

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  First of Its Kind

  First place, first to market, first in line. Firsts are good! And that includes hiking in Santa Clara County's first park: Stevens Creek County Park. It’s an ideal choice for a Sou

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