Day Hikes in the Area

I get asked a lot about day hikes in the vicinity of Stanford. I've compiled a short list here that is hopefully timely with a few days of thanksgiving break left. All of these hikes are great year round. I've listed them in order of distance from Stanford. If you've done any nice day hikes that fit this theme, post them in the comment section!

1. Open Space Preserves in Palo Alto -- A few that come to mind are Monte Bello, Russian Ridge and Redwood Portolas State Park. To get to any of these, go west on Page Mill and Just keep going. Monte Bello is on the Stanford side of Skyline. Russian Ridge is just past Skyline on West Alpine Road (the continuation of Page Mill) and Redwood Portolas is a few miles farther on West Alpines. They're between 30-50 mins driving time. Just wander around!
   
2. Purisima State Park -- Great views of Half Moon Bay, nice Redwood's, etc. Take 280N to 92W upto Skyline, it's several miles south of that intersection. It's about a 40 min drive from Stanford.
   
3. Big Basin State Park -- Make a loop out of the hike to Berry Falls. I can't remember the exact trails, but if you tell the ranger that you want to do a 10-12 mile hike to Berry Falls and the cascades they'll point you in the right direction.
   
4. Marin Headlands -- I recommend the Coastal Trail from Muir Beach and the Steep Ravine Trail that runs between Panorama Road and Stintson Beach. Time it right and you can get a nice lunch in Stintson and sit on the beach for a bit before hiking back. To get to Muir Beach, go over the Golden Gate Bridge, take the Exit for CA 1 and just keep following CA 1. Be careful, there's one or two turns required to stay on one. The Steep Ravine Trail starts at Pantoll Ranger Station in the Mount Tam area. Getting there is similar: once you're over the Golden Gate Bridge, exit 101N at CA1 N. Follow it to Panorama Rd with signs for Muir Woods. Stay on Panorama though. It's location is shown in the map below. It'll take about 1.5 hours to get to either one of these locations.
   
   
   View Larger Map
   
   
5. Pt Lobos Preserve - 4 miles South of Carmel on CA 1 (south of Monterey). These are very short hikes, 1/4 to a 1/2 a mile but absolutely beautiful. It's an absolutely spectacular piece of coast. You're likely to see seals, a variety of birds, possibly whales and otters. If you go do the whole Monterey thing, it's a worthwhile add-on. 2 hours driving distance.
6. Pt Reyes National Seashore. Alamere Falls -- Imediately after Bolinas Lagoon, you make a left onto Olema Bolinas Road (it'll sneak up on you! don't say I didn't tell you), go 1.3 miles turn left to stay on Olema Bolinas Rd, go half a mile and then turn right on Mesa Rd and go about 5 miles. Once the road turns into a dirt road, you're almost there. This hike goes out to a beautiful waterfall that drops right onto the beach. Take the route to the falls that says "DANGEROUS! NOT ADVISED!" It's not that bad.
   
   Tomales Pt Hike -- This is possibly the best wildlife hike in California. There's a herd of Tule Elk that hangs out there and I've also seen bobcats, whales, seals and lots of birds. Should be great wildflowers in the spring as well. The hike takes you out along the point adjacent to Tomales Bay under which the San Andreas runs. It's fairly famous as a breeding ground for great white sharks. Both of these hikes take some time to get to.. between 2.5-3 hours. Longer than you think!

Leave your recommendation in the comments section, or let us know if you tried one of these hikes and enjoyed it!