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The Ultimate Bay Area Outdoors Guide by SF Chronicle columnist Tom Stienstra. It has an interactive map of various outdoors sites linked to Tom's articles on them.
A great source for scenic hiking trails ideas is the map and articles reference at redwoodhikes.com
365 Things To Do in Marin County is a great blog created by Anne Kennedy
Fog City Secrets, insider tips | HiddenSF |
The East Bay Regional Parks District site also has an interactive map of area parks and trails.
The Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy | Golden Gate National Recreation Area |
Hiking Trails section of the Ride Chronicles blog.
SF Chronicle Outdoors section
An exceptionally scenic viewpoint in the Berkeley Hills is from the Stonewall-Panoramic Trail in the Claremont Canyon Regional Preserve. This hike is in the hills above the Claremont Hotel in Berkeley. Many consider it to have some of the best scenic views in the San Francisco Bay Area. The views from this trail rival in majesty those from Grizzly Peak Boulevard.
The trail itself is fairly short at 0.75 miles (one-way), but the steepness of the trail (especially the upper parts) leads to an elevation gain of over 700 feet, providing some dramatic views of Oakland, Berkeley, and Richmond in the foreground and San Francisco, Marin County, and the Bay and Golden Gate Bridges in the background.
Photograph by the author.
Grizzly Peak Boulevard runs along the ridge line of the Berkeley Hills and the views from it are just spectacular, especially on clear days and nights. Here are a couple example photos.
Photo credits: Alex Burke
photo credit: Thomas Sturm
Phenomenal views of the Golden Gate Bridge are available from Fort Point which is located just beneath the bridge. More info about this national historic site is here and also at the wikipedia article.
A great SF Chronicle article by Tom Stienstra: Marina Green to Fort Point
The fort is nearby other very scenic sites in San Francisco, e.g., Baker Beach, the Presidio, Crissy Field, Lands End, etc. A nice article about various sites to see terrific views of the bridge is Seven Places to Gaze at the Golden Gate Bridge.
On a clear day, the views from the Berkeley Hills are spectacular, with panoramic vistas to the west capturing San Francisco, the Bay, and Marin County, and to the east capturing the East Bay hills and reservoirs, and Mount Diablo. The hike from Inspiration Point in Tilden Park offers views similar to those below. The park is part of the East Bay Regional Park District, as is also the nearby Botanic Garden.
The photo below is by Gautham Narayan .
Canyon CA is a small village nestled between Moraga and Oakland in the SF East Bay. When you're there, you feel like you're in the “forest primeval” of the James Wadsworth Longfellow poem Evangeline.
Photo source: