Greater San Francisco’s most valuable treasure is its 80,000-acre necklace of wildflower-spotted hills, miles-long beaches, and oceanside bluffs. Stretching from Tomales Bay in the north to the redwood groves southwest of the Bay, with the Golden Gate Bridge smack in the middle. See butterflies, redwoods, whales, and some of the most beautiful coastline any major metro area has to offer.

The Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which extends from the San Francisco Peninsula into the North Bay and encompasses Alcatraz Island, received 15.2 million visitors last year, making it the most visited national park site in America. 

Drive north over the Golden Gate Bridge and you can pitch a tent at Kirby Cove (from $30) in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. To reach your campsite, walk a mile down a steep path to a bluff overlooking the ocean with awesome views of the city. The old-growth redwoods of Muir...

Health companies want to reward you for going outside. Spending time in nature is increasingly considered legitimate medicine, and doctors and insurance carriers are treating it as such. 

The former embattled superintendent of Grand Canyon National Park has been named to head the nonprofit organization that supports and provides funds to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.