The Best Outdoor Things to Do in the Bay Area This Weekend
There are so many underrated things to do over the weekend when you live in the Bay Area. Two hours from your apartment you can be on a ridge in the fog, in a redwood grove, or shivering your way into the Bay for a swim. Here is how to actually use it.
Easy: a walk with a payoff
If you want views without the suffering, Lands End is the move. The Coastal Trail runs from the Legion of Honor down past the old Sutro Baths, and on a clear day you can see straight out to the Golden Gate. It is flat, it is free, and you can be back in the city for lunch. Crissy Field is the even easier version, all the way flat with the bridge right in front of you the whole time.
Medium: a real hike
Mount Tam is the classic for a reason. The Matt Davis to Steep Ravine loop gives you ridgeline fog, redwoods, and a creek with a little ladder section that makes you feel like you earned the drive. Closer in, Sawyer Camp Trail on the Peninsula is a flat paved six miles along Crystal Springs Reservoir that is somehow never crowded enough to ruin it. Our Bay Area hiking community often organizes meetups if you would rather not go alone.
Hard: get in the water
This is the one people do not believe until they try it. The South End Rowing Club and the Dolphin Club at Aquatic Park both open their cold water swims to the public, and there is a whole community of people who plunge into the Bay every single weekend year round. It is bracing, it is a little unhinged, and you will not stop talking about it.
Run it instead of walking it
If hiking feels too slow, the Bay Area trail running scene is genuinely huge. SF Road Runners meets Saturday mornings at 8am and a lot of their routes wind straight through the Presidio and along the water.
The lazy outdoor option
Not every outdoor weekend needs a summit. Grab coffee, walk the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market on a Saturday between 8am and 2pm, and eat your way down the Embarcadero. It counts. Fresh air is fresh air.
The best part of any of this is who you do it with. Tribe’s Bay Area communities post weekend hikes, swims, and runs all week, so you always have someone to go with.
