The Great Outdoors
By Josh White, Spring 2011
Does the constant studying and lack of windows at Alliant give you cabin fever? New to San Francisco and don’t know where to go? Here are three suggestions for activities in the great outdoors that are cheap, fun, and local.
Corona Heights is a park, a playground, a vista, and a well-loved “secret” located in the Castro neighborhood in San Francisco. There are many entrances to the park but the main entrance is at the corner of Roosevelt Way and Museum Way. Locals know this park as Red Rocks because of the reddish crags that constitute the top of the vista. Once you have climbed to the top, you will find commanding views of the San Francisco skyline and surrounding areas. Warning: there is poison oak off the trail in this park, if you do not know what poison oak looks like please use my friend Google.
For those of you who already play disc golf, find me and we can go play. For those of you who think that it is a silly pseudo-sport or an excuse for some people to drink outside, you are right. For those who do not know what it is, disc golf is like traditional golf but with discs—not Frisbees—and baskets instead of holes. Bottom line, it is a great way to get outside and enjoy a little lighthearted competition with your friends. If you do not have equipment, then I recommend finding someone at school that plays or talking to the staff at most sporting goods stores. A disc will cost about $10 to $20 but the course is free. San Francisco’s only disc golf course is located in Golden Gate Park in-between 25th and 30th Avenues, on the Richmond side. The entrance is elusively located off JFK Boulevard at Marx Meadows. There are18-holes, with a front and back nine, and the course has a diversity of terrain and difficulty levels. Warning: this course is very popular. I recommend going on weekdays, foggy days, or before 10 a.m. if you do not want to wait 10+ minutes at each hole. There are courses in the East Bay and Marin as well.
Mt. Tamalpais State Park is located in the Marin Headlands, the mountains you see just past the Golden Gate Bridge. It is only about a 45-minute drive from Alliant’s campus. Mt. Tamalpais State Park, known simply as Mt. Tam, is expansive and worth exploring. The roads are windy and filled with courageous bikers, the views are exhilarating, the wildlife is verdant, diverse, and refreshing; it is the perfect place to get away from, Springs near the West Peak portion of the park. The parking here is free because it is part of the Marin Headlands Watershed. In spring, this area becomes a wandering-wonderland of rolling green hills that descend to the Pacific Ocean. Everyone who goes to this park has his or her own favorite location, I recommend wandering the maze of trails to find your own hidden gem.