Things to do within one- or two-hour driving distance from San Francisco, California

Golden gate bridgedreamcatcher_mahdi

Movement, excitement, cultural exposure, commercial and financial hub- if all these things can describe a city that is San Francisco, the heart of Northern California, the 13th most populated city in the USA. The city is famous for a whole lot of things. If you are a city lover, you have a lot of things to explore. In this blog, I am going to talk about some of the places that are in the city and some of the places that are one or two hours away (driving distance) from San Francisco.

Golden gate bridge

If you want me to suggest one place in San Francisco to visit, I will say ‘Golden Gate bridge’. This world-famous bridge is located between San Francisco Bay and Marin County. Declared as one of the modern wonders of the world, this bridge was opened in 1937 and at that time it was considered the longest suspension bridge ever created. This bridge is made of steel and the total length is 1.7 miles. To get a good view of the bridge, you can go to the vista point and viewpoints on either side of the bridge. Another view you can get is from Baker beach. From here, you will be able to get the bridge view with the surrounding water body and wave crashing on the beach. From Battery east vista, Fort point you will be able to get a beautiful view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Alcatraz Island, San FransiscoRoadrigo Soares/unsplash

Alcatraz Island

Between 1934 and 1963, Alcatraz Island was established as a military fortification- a military prison as well as a federal prison. The general idea was to keep the prisoners who caused continuous trouble at other prisons here. Many infamous prisoners including Al Capone and Robert Franklin Stroud have stayed here. Now, this island is considered a tourist spot just 1.5 miles off the shore of San Francisco.

Muir Wood traildreamcatcher_mahdi/instagram

Muir Wood National Monument

Once this place was known as Redwood Canyon, now this place is known as Muir Woods National Monument and is famous for the giant redwoods. This Park is much more than you can imagine and most importantly it is only one hour away from San Francisco. It is amazing to explore some of the ancient groves including some trees over 1000 years old and wander through the woodland paths amidst the tress- the experience is hard to describe. The only fact I do not like is the crowd and the parking spots. Though it has enough parking spots, it gets easily crowded and sometimes it takes a lot of time and rounds to get a parking spot. Good thing that the park has opened a reservation system. You can make a reservation by visiting GoMuirWoods.com or call 1-800-410-2419.

Infinite coastline at Point Reyesdreamcatcher_mahdi/instagram

Point Reyes National Seashore

Point Reyes National Seashore is located around two hours driving distance away from San Francisco. You will be amazed to see the beautiful shoreline, lighthouse, and windswept cypress trees. On the way to the lighthouse do not forget to check out the Cypress trees tunnel, Point Reyes Shipwreck. Also, before you plan your visit, please check the official website for the hours and days. The steps to the lighthouse are only open for some specific days in the week. Read some more details here: (https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2174486944404/one-of-the-best-infinite-coast-view-in-california-point-reyes-national-sea-shore)

Point Reyes Lighthousedreamcatcher_mahdi/instagram

Sausalito

Sausalito is a very small city in Marin County right across the Golden Gate Bridge. I wanted to write about this city especially because I found it very charming. This seaside small city is perfect for a small gateway- full of shops, restaurants, houseboat enclaves, and the scenic view is pretty awesome. Located at the north end of the town, there are approximately 500 houseboats in five floating home marina- which is quite amazing. Check out the Sausalito Houseboats page for public tour dates and times if you want to visit the interiors and know more about life in houseboats.

Lovers laneAlbert Dera/unsplash

‘Lover’s Lane’ trail and wood line in the Presidio National Park

This trail is an easy 0.6-mile walk down the hill in a paved pathway that will take you to the oldest foot trail in the Presidio. This place is known as ‘Lover’s lane’ because around 150 years ago soldiers used to use this route to go to the town to meet their sweethearts. One side of the path is surrounded by a dense forest full of eucalyptus, pine, and cypress trees. All these trees were planted in the late nineteenth century by the military. ‘Wood Line’ is located parallel to Lover’s Lane. This is an outdoor installation by British artist Andy Goldsworthy. The installation was constructed inside the eucalyptus forest in a large gap. The cypress trees planted in the 1890s were died over time and created this large gap. The wood line was created using the felled trees, eucalyptus trunks, trimmed branches, and each of the logs were chosen in such a way that it created a continuous curving line through the forest.

Source

• Muir Woods National Monument (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
• Point Reyes National Seashore (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
• Lovers' Lane Trail | Presidio – San Francisco, CA

#travel #california #coastline #explore #sanfransisco #nature #adventure

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