The Great Outdoors

Some Web Sites Devoted to the Outdoors

Last updated: 2004.08.22

Personal Hikes and Trips
To be filled in someday ... from the Golden Gate to Pt. Reyes
Hikes
Mt. Tamalpais State Park Hiking Schedule
Organizations
Parks and Places
Publishers
Wildlife

Personal Hikes and Trips

Jan. 7, 1996: Mt. Tamalpais
The circuit from Rock Spring to Rock Spring via the Cataract, Mickey O' Brien, and Simmons Trails.

Jan. 14, 1996: Mt. Tamalpais
The circuit from Rock Spring to Rock Spring via the Old Mine, Riding & Hiking, Old Stage Road and Rock Spring Trails.

Feb. 3, 1996: Muir Woods National Monument
A short nature walk along the valley floor in the rain.

Feb. 10, 1996: Sayles Flat
A trip up Highway 50 to the Sierra Nevada to visit the snow.

Feb. 18, 1996: Mt. Tamalpais
A climb up along Cataract Creek from Alpine Lake to Laurel Dell, and on to Rock Spring.

Feb. 25, 1996: Samuel P. Taylor State Park
A climb to the summit of Barnabe Peak.

Mar. 10, 1996: Mt. Tamalpais
A descent through Steep Ravine to Stinson Beach.

Mar. 17, 1996: Folsom Lake State Park
A hike up the American River Canyon below Auburn, from Folsom Lake towards (but not to) state highway 49.

Mar. 30, 1996: Yosemite National Park
From Happy Isles to the Vernal Falls Bridge.

Apr. 7, 1996: Mt. Tamalpais
A descent through Steep Ravine to Stinson Beach.

Apr. 13, 1996: Yosemite National Park
From Happy Isles to Nevada Falls.

Apr. 28, 1996: Pt. Reyes National Seashore
From the Bear Valley Visitor Center to Limantour Beach.

May 5, 1996: Mt. Tamalpais
From Pantoll to Stinson Beach by the Matt Davis Trail.

July 21, 1996: Sierra Nevada
From Woods Lake Campground to Winnemucca Lake.

Sep. 22, 1996: Pt. Reyes National Seashore
From the Sky Trailhead to Limantour Beach.

Dec. 15, 1996: Sonoma Coast State Beaches
From Shell Beach to Blind Beach via the Kortum Trail.

Dec. 23, 1996: Salt Point State Park
Loop from Woodside Campground via the Pygmy Forest and the Coast.

Feb. 9, 1997: Golden Gate National Recreation Area
McCullough Road and Conzelman Road to Rodeo Lagoon.

Feb. 16, 1997: Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Rodeo Lagoon to Tennessee Valley.

Feb. 23, 1997: Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Tennessee Valley to Muir Beach.

Jan. 1, 1998: Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Tennessee Valley to Muir Beach (alternate route).

Jan. 4, 1998: Pt. Reyes National Seashore
Sky Trailhead to Bear Valley Visitor Center via Mt. Wittenberg.

Jan. 3, 1999: Skyline Ridge and Russian Ridge Open Space Preserves
Along the Ridge from the Skyline Ridge Parking Area to the Russian Ridge Vista Point.

Feb. 15, 1999: Salt Point State Park
Along the Coast from Stump Beach to Gerstle Cove.

Mar. 7, 1999: Golden Gate National Recreation Area
On the Ridge North of Rodeo Lagoon.

May 30, 1999: Sonoma Coast State Beaches
The Dr. David Joseph Memorial Pomo Canyon Trail.

June 16, 2001: Mt. St. Helens Volcano

Sheep Canyon Trail and Loowit Trail.

June 17, 2001: Columbia River Gorge

Horsetail Falls to Oneonta Gorge.

March 16, 2002: Mt. Tamalpais

Mountain Home Inn to Summit.

February 1, 2003: Ring Mountain

The Phyllis Ellman Trail to the West Summit.

August 15, 2004: Mt. Tamalpais

The Miwok Trail from Highway 1 to Muir Woods.

August 22, 2004: Marin Municipal Water District

Around Lake Bon Tempe.
To be filled in someday...

For those in the Bay Area, this is a fun medium-distance walk that can take several weekends. I and my children did this three times, once in early 1985, once in early 1991 and once in the first half of 1997. The children are mostly gone now, but perhaps I will do this one more time by myself.

First Day: Conzelman Road to Rodeo Lagoon
A pleasant ramble over the Marin Headlands, with a chance to visit a number of points of historical interest -- the various military battery sites -- as well as the birds in Rodeo Lagoon and, if it's open, Point Bonita Lighthouse. If you like, you can add another mile or so by starting at the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Second Day: Rodeo Lagoon to Tennessee Valley and Muir Beach
Across one narrow ridge to Tennessee Valley, with its small, isolated beach, and then over another, wider headland and down to Muir Beach and, if you want, the beautiful old-world-style Pelican Inn.
You can do both of the above walks in a single day if you want to stretch out and not waste time smelling flowers or enjoying the beautiful ocean views. You can also take as many as three days.

Third Day: Muir Beach to Pan Toll
Up the hill past the heather fields to Muir Beach Overlook, then a gradual climb up the south ridge of Mt. Tamalpais past the ruins of Shansky backpack camp to the ranger station at Pan Toll. Note: Above the Heather Cutoff, much of this route has been closed until June, 2005, when a new trail will replace the existing fire road!

Fourth Day: Pan Toll to the Bolinas-Fairfax Highway
A beautiful stroll through groves of trees and open grassy meadows just west of the crest of the west ridge of Mt. Tamalpais, with some of the best views down to the coast and over the ocean in this part of California.

Fifth Day: The Bolinas-Fairfax Highway to the Five Brooks Stables
A few miles through forest along the Bolinas Ridge followed by a descent to the valley of the San Andreas Fault, where you cross state highway 1 and follow the valley for a couple of miles through field and forest.

Sixth Day: The Five Brooks Stables to the Bear Valley Visitor Center
Continue through forest and field in the San Andreas Valley, behind various farms and Vedanta retreats, to the main visitor center at Point Reyes National Seashore.

On our first trip, we followed the Bolinas Ridge all the way to Sir Francis Drake Highway, about two miles east of Olema, where our walk ended. If you take this route, you can get to the visitor center by following the road down through Olema and across the valley bottom -- a distance of about three miles.

Seventh Day: The Bear Valley Visitor Center to Limantour Beach
From Bear Valley trailhead, an easy four-mile walk over Divide Meadow and down to the coast at Arch Rock; then another four miles through wild coastal scenery to Coast Camp; and a last two miles along the beach to Limantour.

Seventh Day: Limantour Beach to a small parking lot behind Drake's Estero
This wild, open moorland ("Heathcliffe! Oh, Heathcliffe!") will probably recover from the fire much faster than the forested areas.

You could probably continue from here to Tomales Point in one or two more days, but all except the last four miles (eight miles round trip from the parking lot) would be along paved roads, since much of the northern part of Point Reyes remains in private hands and is trailless.
Hikes

Rim of the Bay Progressive Hike Award
Descriptions of the six hikes and mountain climbs needed to earn Boy Scout Troop 24's RIM OF THE BAY patch.

Ring Mountain Hike, "TSAW Project"
"To See a World" describes the hike to the top of this small mountain in Marin County next to San Francisco Bay.

Seven Best Marin Hikes
121 Great Hikes in Marin County is a book by Don and Kay Martin. Don has selected seven of the best hikes in the book for this page.

Mike Thoma SF Bay Area Nature Hikes
Mike Thoma has prepared a number of attractive logs of hikes he has made around Mt. Tamalpais in the San Francisco Bay Area, including times and descriptions of plants and animals that he has observed.

Parks and Trails of North San Francisco Bay
Laura Blatt's comprehensive list includes trails in Marin, Napa and Sonoma (especially) counties.

Welcome to Marin Trails
Your guide to the great outdoors in Marin County, California.

Bay Area Hiking
Ron Horii's interesting page of California Bay Area hikes.

San Francisco Bay Area Hiker

A nice and very complete set of pages by Jane Huber.
Long-distance trails

Coastwalk's Home Page: News and information about the proposed, and partially completed, border-to-border California Coastal Trail.
Bay Area Ridge Trail Coincil: Ongoing news and information about the 400-mile Bay Area Ridge Trail, which will allow hikers to completely circumambulate California's San Francisco Bay when completed.
San Francisco Bay Trail: About a long distance trail that will surround San Francisco Bay near or at the bayshore.
Pacific Crest Trail Association: News of the ambitious Mexico-to-Canada Pacific Crest Trail.
American Discovery Trail: Cross-country long-distance trail whose western terminus is San Francisco.
Tahoe Rim Trail: To Lake Tahoe what the Bay Area Ridge Trail is to San Francisco Bay.

The Mt. Tamalpais Interpretive Association now has its own quarterly list of hikes available on-line.
Organizations

Natural Resources Defense Council
"NRDC is a national nonprofit organization with 170,000 members that is dedicated to protecting the world's natural resources and ensuring a safe and healthy environment for all.In courtrooms, legislative chambers, regulatory agencies and the public arena, NRDC defends the environment from pollution, exploitation and destruction. From acid rain to global warming...ozone depletion to deforestation...energy efficiency to habitat preservation...NRDC's scientists and attorneys have been working since 1970 to solve the critical environmental issues of our times."

The Sierra Club
"The Sierra Club is a non-profit member-supported, public interest organization that promotes conservation of the natural environment by influencing public policy decisions--legislative, administrative, legal, and electoral."

San Francisco Chapter

The Wilderness Society
Site is currently being reconstructed.

Environmental WWW Links
Links to a number of nature- and environment-oriented organizations.

Environmental Organizations
A similar list.

Ecology Online
Ditto.

Get-Outdoors.com
Commercial.
Parks and Places

Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Perhaps the largest urban or near-urban park in the world, the GGNRA extends from the beach area of San Francisco north past Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, miles up the Marin Peninsula; it occupies most of West Marin, except for those sections contained in other parks.

Muir Woods National Monument
One of the most popular natural sites in the United States, Muir Woods contains some of the most beautiful stands of redwood trees left in the area.

Point Reyes National Seashore
Miles of forested ridgeline, coastal moorland, grassy meadows, beaches and sheer coastal cliffs make this a very attractive area to visit. Hiking opportunities are numerous.

Samuel P. Taylor State Park
One of the loveliest camping areas in the Bay Area, with the campground located in the bottom of a canyon among beautiful redwood groves. Good possibilities for hiking, including nearby Barnabe Peak. Note: entry page is graphics-heavy.

Mt. Tamalpais State Park
One of the most popular hiking locations in the Bay Area.

Yosemite National Park
One of the crown jewels of the national park system, Yosemite includes numerous possibilities for recreation, including many miles of hiking trail for both day trips and back-country backpack trips.

Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks
Two beautiful back-country parks in the high Sierra.

The National Park Service's Park Net
The home page for the National Park Service's on-line presence. Feel free to use their search engine to get information about your favorite park.

National headquarters of the U.S. Forest Service
Go here for information about our national forests, available campsites, and the like.

California State Parks home page
Main connector to many California state parks, state recreation areas, etc.

East Bay Regional Parks District parks and trails
County-spanning regional parks authority east of San Francisco Bay.

Marin County Open Space District
Relatively little-known and -visited wild areas north of San Francisco.

U. S. Wilderness Areas list (incomplete)
A list of various wilderness areas throughout the United States.
Publishers

Wilderness Press On-Line
A very well-known Berkeley-based publisher of hiking, climbing, and general outdoor guides.

Sierra Club Books
The publishing arm of the country's major environmentalist organization.
Wildlife

Greg's Point Reyes Wildlife Page
A portfolio of beautiful wildlife photos from the Point Reyes area.

Sendu demandojn kaj proponojn al

Don Harlow <don@donh.vip.best.com>

Some Web Sites Devoted to the Outdoors

Last updated: 2004.08.22

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