weekender.
Weekend trips from Saint Mary's College
Hidden spots near Moraga, day trips and weekend road trips from Saint Mary's College in November, scored 1–10 on price, timing and what's happening, with gas, park fees, a campsite or room and food included.
Plan your own trip from Saint Mary's College →Local finds near campus
Tilden Park & Inspiration Point
Berkeley's backyard: a ridge trail over the bay, a swimming lake and a tiny steam train.
Lands End & Sutro Baths
Ruins of a giant Victorian bathhouse, a cliff trail and a hidden stone labyrinth.
Mount Davidson
A summit hike near campus, found in OpenStreetMap.
Mount Diablo
The summit view on a clear day reaches the Sierra; Rock City's sandstone caves are a scramble.
Day trips
Monterey & Carmel
Sea otters on kelp, 17-Mile Drive and Carmel's fairytale cottages.
Mission Peak
The Bay Area's most-climbed summit and its famous pole; go at sunrise.
Half Moon Bay & Pescadero
Tide pools at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve and warm artichoke bread in tiny Pescadero.
Point Reyes
Tule elk on the bluffs, a lighthouse 300 steps down a cliff, and oysters on Tomales Bay.
Lake Berryessa
The 'glory hole' spillway drain that looks like a portal in the lake.
Sacramento
Gold Rush boardwalks in Old Sacramento and the farm-to-fork capital's food halls.
Weekend trips
Monterey & Carmel
Sea otters on kelp, 17-Mile Drive and Carmel's fairytale cottages.
Half Moon Bay & Pescadero
Tide pools at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve and warm artichoke bread in tiny Pescadero.
Muir Woods & Mount Tam
Old-growth redwoods in a canyon, then the sunset over the fog from Mount Tamalpais.
Bodega Bay & Sonoma Coast
Where Hitchcock filmed The Birds: whale-watching headlands and secret coves.
Columbia State Historic Park
Pan for gold and ride a stagecoach in a preserved 1850s mining town.
Big Sur
McWay Falls dropping onto a beach, Bixby Bridge and the purple sand at Pfeiffer Beach.
Long weekends
Big Sur
McWay Falls dropping onto a beach, Bixby Bridge and the purple sand at Pfeiffer Beach.
Morro Bay & Montaña de Oro
Sea otters under Morro Rock and wild bluff trails in Montaña de Oro.
Alabama Hills & Lone Pine
Free camping among the rock arches where hundreds of westerns were filmed, under Mount Whitney.
Bishop & the Buttermilks
World-class bouldering, Keough's hot springs and Erick Schat's famous bakery.
Palm Springs
Midcentury pool motels, palm oases in Indian Canyons and a rotating tram up the mountain.
Hearst Castle & San Simeon
A newspaper tycoon's hilltop castle with a marble pool, and elephant seals below it.
Personalize it
Set your budget, how many friends are coming, your car (or no car: train and bus), and what you're into (hiking, beaches, camping, stargazing, food and more), and Weekender re-ranks every trip for you, with a day-by-day plan, directions and campsites.
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