weekender.
Weekend trips from UC Berkeley
Hidden spots near Berkeley, day trips and weekend road trips from UC Berkeley 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 UC Berkeley →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 Diablo
The summit view on a clear day reaches the Sierra; Rock City's sandstone caves are a scramble.
Angel Island
A ferry to a car-free island with 360° bay views and the immigration station's poems.
Day trips
Monterey & Carmel
Sea otters on kelp, 17-Mile Drive and Carmel's fairytale cottages.
Point Reyes
Tule elk on the bluffs, a lighthouse 300 steps down a cliff, and oysters on Tomales Bay.
Stinson Beach
A long sandy beach under Mount Tam, reached by one of the curviest roads in the Bay.
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.
Lake Berryessa
The 'glory hole' spillway drain that looks like a portal in the lake.
Weekend trips
Pismo Beach & Oceano Dunes
Drive or sandboard on the only beach dunes you can camp on, then clam chowder in Pismo.
Monterey & Carmel
Sea otters on kelp, 17-Mile Drive and Carmel's fairytale cottages.
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.
Pinnacles National Park
Crawl through talus caves with a flashlight while California condors circle above.
Long weekends
Pismo Beach & Oceano Dunes
Drive or sandboard on the only beach dunes you can camp on, then clam chowder in Pismo.
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.
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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