30 minutes from San Francisco, you will find this amazing versatile hike. Whether you are looking for a light walk along the coast or a good exercise to break a sweat, you will find it here.

If you are looking for a well maintained flat trail to end up on the beach for a good picnic lunch, then Gray Whale Cove beach trail is for you.

Since we set off in the morning to do a hike that would make us sweat a little, we called the Gray Whale Cove beach trail a warm up and ventured up a more challenging one breaking off from there. This was really fun and we definitely got what we came for – great views and a lot of sweat. On this 5.7 mile hike, we quickly consumed all the snacks & beverages that we brought. When we finished, we were too hungry to relax on the beach afterwards. Instead, we stopped by Upper Crust Deli for a filling sandwich that hit all the right spots.

Where we ventured