The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill
Brave new worlds are captured in celebrated artworks destined for museum retrospectives, international shows and even Marc Jacobs handbags and CB2…
Must-see attractions in Northern California
The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers
Picnic amid wind-sculpted pines, fish from craggy rocks or frolic nude at mile-long Baker Beach, with spectacular views of the Golden Gate. Crowds come…
Sequoia National Park
A quarter-mile staircase climbs 350 steps (over 300ft) to the top of Sequoia’s iconic granite dome at an elevation of 6725ft, offering mind-boggling views…
Kings Canyon National Park
This sequoia grove off Generals Hwy is astounding. The paved half-mile General Grant Tree Trail is an interpretive walk that visits a number of mature…
San Francisco
Rock stars and conspiracy theorists alike are mysteriously drawn to the Masonic – a major concert venue and the Masons' main temple for California…
North Coast & Redwoods
A 67-acre old-growth redwood grove is a surprising green gem in the middle of a residential neighborhood. It has biking and hiking trails, a children’s…
Mt Shasta Region
The stars of this glorious state park alongside Castle Crags Wilderness Area are its soaring spires of ancient granite formed some 225 million years ago,…
Yosemite National Park
Some of Yosemite's best vistas are granted to those who hike the steep, 1.3-mile trail up to this viewpoint. Inspiration Point used to be a spot along an…
The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers
San Francisco takes subversive glee in turning military installations into venues for nature, fine dining and out-there experimental art. Evidence: Fort…
Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge
North Coast & Redwoods
This pristine wildlife refuge protects wetland habitats for more than 200 species of resident birds and their feathered friends migrating annually along…
North Beach & Chinatown
The closest you can get to the complete Beat experience without breaking a law. The 1000-plus artifacts in this museum's literary-ephemera collection…
Yosemite National Park
The hike to Sentinel’s summit (8122ft) is the shortest and easiest trail up one of Yosemite’s granite domes. For those unable to visit Half Dome’s summit,…
Sequoia National Park
By volume the largest living tree on earth, the massive General Sherman Tree rockets into the sky and waaay out of the camera frame. Pay your respects to…
Yosemite National Park
Stretching nearly 3 miles from Pothole Dome in the west to Lembert Dome in the east, Tuolumne’s main meadow is beautiful to behold, especially at sunset,…
Yosemite National Park
Just east of Olmsted Point, the shiny blue surface of Tenaya Lake (8150ft) looks absolutely stunning framed by thick stands of pine and a series of smooth…
North Beach & Chinatown
You can see all the way to China from the Hilton's 3rd floor inside this cultural center, which hosts exhibits ranging from showcases of contemporary…
The Haight & Hayes Valley
With its sunny courtyard and generous cased windows, this uplifting 1922 building is an interfaith landmark. Since 1969, it's been home to the largest…
San Francisco
While adults are asleep downhill, eight-year-olds are making scientific discoveries atop Corona Heights Park. After Josephine Randall became a pioneering…
San Francisco
America's first gay-history museum showcases a century of San Francisco LGBTQ+ ephemera – Harvey Milk's campaign literature, matchbooks from long-gone…
The Haight & Hayes Valley
When the bass thumbs out the opening notes to 'A Love Supreme,' you'll know the Sunday liturgy has begun at San Francisco's legendary Church of St John…
Napa Valley
Napa’s second-oldest winery, Schramsberg makes some of California’s best brut sparkling wines, and in 1972 was the first domestic wine served at the White…
Yosemite National Park
Prominently marking the eastern end of the main meadow, Lembert Dome towers about 800ft above the Tuolumne River. Its summit, which chalks in at 9450ft…
San Francisco
Follow trails of deleted White House tweets, lost Grateful Dead tapes and defunct Nintendo gamer magazines to this 1923 Greek Revival landmark. In a…
North Beach & Chinatown
'The air was soft, the stars so fine, the promise of every cobbled alley so great…' This ode by the On the Road and Dharma Bums author is embedded in his…
Kings Canyon National Park
One of the most popular destinations for a day hike from the Cedar Grove area of Kings Canyon, Mist Falls is an Edenic spot, with massive boulders,…
Napa Valley
High atop Spring Mountain, cult-favorite Pride straddles the Napa–Sonoma border and bottles vintages under both appellations. The well-structured Cabernet…
San Francisco
On San Francisco's literary scene, all roads eventually lead to Ina Coolbrith. She was California's first poet laureate, editor of Mark Twain, colleague…
Human Rights Campaign Action Center
San Francisco
Harvey Milk’s former camera storefront was featured in the Academy Award–winning movie Milk, and now it's home to the civil rights advocacy group…
San Francisco
Looking out from Lands End feels like surveying the edge of the world. Nestled on the point of land between Golden Gate Park and the Presidio, the park's…
Kings Canyon National Park
This verdant meadow, bordered by the Kings River and soaring granite walls, offers phenomenal views. In the early morning, the air hums with birdsong, the…
North Beach & Chinatown
Halfway through the steep climb up the Filbert St Steps to Coit Tower, you might wonder if it’s all worth the trouble. Take a breather and notice the…
The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers
Slide, climb and feel your way – in total darkness – through the labyrinth of the Tactile Dome at the Exploratorium, the city's standout science museum…
The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill
Art really ties the room together at nonprofit arts center Southern Exposure, where works are carefully crafted not just with paint and canvas, but a…
Napa Valley
Long Meadow stands out for olive-oil tastings ($10), plus good estate-grown cabernet, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay and pinot noir, served inside an 1874…
San Francisco
This peaceful, 10-acre living memorial ringed by redwoods and graced with poetic paving-stone tributes was founded in 1991 to commemorate millions of…
Napa Valley
Ascend Mt Veeder for drop-dead vistas, 1800ft above the valley, at Napa’s oh-so-swank, first-ever organically farmed, Leadership in Energy and…
Mt Shasta Region
Perched on a shield volcano, Lava Beds National Monument is a truly remarkable 47,000-acre landscape of geological features – lava flows, craters, cinder…
The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill
Trancelike states are often induced by Hosfelt, where visitors step from gritty sidewalks into dreamy, finely detailed interior worlds. Close inspection…
The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill
Elephants created from sewn-together maps, benches made from repurposed shovel handles, factory-floor scenes recreated entirely in duct tape: one-off…
The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill
All roads in San Francisco's art underground lead to this nonprofit creative community hub under a highway overpass. Shows have featured eviction letters…
