Outdoor Routes of the Week

The intended impact is to explore our backyards – the streets and neighborhoods that are within walking, running, or biking distance that can be seen and felt in a way that is hard to see or feel in a car or bus.  

Routes of the Week are also intended to just provide a different place to exercise that may be less crowded.   

All kinds! Trails, roads, stairs, hills, flats. The routes don’t always include parks, but we're hoping to connect city parks as much as possible since we know that green spaces can also be good for mental health.    

Location: We try to provide routes in all neighborhoods in San Francisco, knowing that not everyone has access to Golden Gate Park, the Presidio, or the waterfront of the Embarcadero. Since these Routes of the Week started during the Shelter in Place, providing options that were less obvious or gave people a chance to climb a new hill, or see a new connecting street, while still being able to exercise safely felt important.  

Distance: Providing a route that can be done in 45minutes to 90 minutes made it a bit more feasible for parents, families, people to take a manageable outdoor break without it eating up a huge chunk of the day. 

Highlights: Some routes are chosen for their views, some for the history, and some for just the pure desire to get a solid workout by climbing a long hill, which are hard to avoid in San Francisco. For routes in Marin and San Mateo, we’re trying to use less popular trailheads and combine them with popular features – just to provide other ways of getting to the same popular places.  

I personally find the less obvious stuff interesting. So I’ll look for a route that is less obvious to someone that has ran or biked that area before a hundred times. We all (myself included) get in the habit of learning something/a route and then doing it again and again because we know what to expect, we can cover it faster, we want to not have to think about getting lost, but sometimes it’s nice to find something slightly different that you can “master.”  

Under current SiP orders, outdoor exercise is allowed in Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo, provided that we still wear masks, follow social-distancing guidelines, and respect the rules set in place by parks and counties. Since hiking, running, and riding rarely requires you to touch anything other than your own equipment, these Routes of the Week provide opportunities to exercise with individuals while still being safe.  

With parking lots at trailheads closed at popular parks, like the Marin Headlands and Mount Tam, having options to hike, run, or bike in places that didn’t require driving also inspired these Routes of the Week. 

As the SiP orders evolve and eventually disappear, we hope that the Routes of the Week will just provide more opportunities to continue exploring and seeing other places nearby that might get overshadowed by the more popular trails/routes.  

Other orgs/websites provide really great options for nature education, scenic views, etc. They often provide the best option to see everything that park has to offer. Which is a great place to start exploring new spaces and getting comfortable with wayfinding, especially if this is not a strength for people. Some of our routes also include those popular routes.  

However, our routes also provide an opportunity to see streets or thoroughfares that connect neighborhoods/parks that we may not have known existed before. The hope is that when people are out on a daily walk, that it brings a bit more variety to daily options, versus having to wait for the weekend to go visit a place. Plus, the more areas you get familiar with, the more you’re likely you are to make your own routes.

Routes of the week will include: 

• Location description with distance and map 

• Highlights of the area/fun fact 

• Ideal times to go visit 

• Multiple starting options to access route 

• Recommended places to park if you have to drive to the trailheads 

• Options to make it different: longer, harder, easier, fast, etc.