Located on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, the City by the Bay and its surrounding area offers moderate climate, crookedly steep streets, miles of beachfront and numerous parks that provide places to workout or engage in outdoor activity year-round. The city's compact size allows for biking and walking tours while viewing the sights and attractions of this vibrant city.
Biking
Sections of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Drive in Golden Gate Park are closed to motorized traffic every Saturday and Sunday to provide for worry-free biking and enhanced pedestrian safety. This non-motorized section will take you past park attractions, including the Rose Garden, the Pioneer Log Cabin and along Stow Lake. Bike rentals are available from Blazing Saddles or Bay City Bikes in Union Square. Both locations provide access to the Embarcadero and a 3-mile route from Union Square to Fisherman's Wharf. Here, you can access Presidio's National Park Bay Trail for a 5-mile pedal to Golden Gate Bridge. The bridge sidewalk across this engineering marvel is 1.7 miles.
Parks
The San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department maintains more than 200 parks, of which the largest is the 1,017-acre Golden Gate Park. Here, you can visit the AIDS Memorial Grove, the Japanese Tea Garden, rent a boat and paddle out onto Stow Lake or play nine holes of golf at the par-3 Golden Gate Park Golf Course. Ocean Beach runs along the Pacific shoreline in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and provides waves suitable for surfing. The tidal-pools at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, a 30-acre reef off Moss Beach are brimming with crabs, sea stars, sea anemones and other marine life.
Walking Tours
On an early morning walk or jog on Fisherman's Wharf, you can view the lounging sea lions. The Haight-Ashbury Flower Power Tour covers 12 blocks of the neighborhood made famous during the 1960s. The nonprofit City Guides offers a tour of this neighborhood that offers a broader historical perspective, describing its Victorian-era resort site beginnings. Other walking tours offered by the City Guides, sponsored by the San Francisco Library System, are the 1906: Presidio and Earthquake tour, which takes you to the 1,500-acre Presidio National Park, and the Fort Mason to Aquatic Park Tour. The latter features historic boats, such as the 1886 Balclutha, at the Aquatic Park and Fort Mason, site of a Civil War-era battlement.
San Francisco Islands
Several islands are considered part of the city, including Alcatraz, Treasure Island, Yerba Buena, small portions of Alameda, Red Rock and Angel Islands, as well as the uninhabited, offshore Farallon Islands. Angel Island State Park is accessible by ferry and offers hiking trails and a paved 5-mile perimeter road suitable for biking. City Kayak offers kayaking adventures for all skill levels, from a 2-hour paddle around McCovey Cove and Mission Creek along the downtown shore suitable for beginners, to a 3-hour morning trek along the Presidio coastline and out to Alcatraz Island for more experienced paddlers.
Golfing
San Francisco's par-71 Olympic Club's Lake course and the San Francisco Golf Club are featured on Golf Digest's list of America's 100 Greatest Courses. Both are private clubs, so you must know somebody in order to play. Harding Park, a San Francisco municipal course and host of the 2009 Presidents Cup, offers 6,845 yards lined by Monterey cypress trees and around Lake Merced. Eucalyptus and Monterey pines line the hilly terrain of Presidio Golf Course, whose 18 holes play 6,500 yards.
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