When I lived in San Francisco, I often overheard visitors say the darnedest things. “We have to see Alcatraz! And Ghirardelli Square!” Ugh. Seriously? Guys, you’re missing out: San Francisco is the capital of urban hiking.

I get it. With the trails of Marin and Pacifica just a short drive away, why bother hiking in a city? And just what is “urban hiking,” anyway? For those of us who habitually and deliberately plan travel, as well as a general lifestyle, around being car-free (guilty), it’s imperative to find a way to experience nature without driving to it.

Luckily, the hills, parks and even sidewalks of San Francisco provide ample opportunity for just that. One gluteal-busting walk from the Ferry Building to Ocean Beach shows that the word “hike” may even be an understatement within the city limits; this so-called walk is a bonafide butt and core workout. Luckily, the views, as well as the delicious food in which one feels justified to indulge afterward, more than make up for the scaling involved. In fact, one in-person look at these views, and urban hiking becomes one of the best reasons to visit San Francisco.

1. Filbert Steps, Telegraph Hill

Before you get there: If you find yourself in this part of town on a Saturday, be sure to fuel up at the Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market. Our picks are the chilaquiles from Primavera Tamales.

2. Jones Street & Green Street, Russian Hill

Where to go from here: Continue on Green Street toward Pacific Heights for more great views, or walk down the hill toward the Marina for great shopping and restaurants.

3. Alta Plaza Park, Pacific Heights

What to do, now that you’re here: Go early, and quietly sip on your coffee (stop at Jane on Fillmore on your way over), while you watch the dogs play in the off-leash park.

4. Sutro Heights Park, Sea Cliff

They call it “Land’s End” for a reason. Breathe deep, and give thanks.

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Related on EcoSalon

Take a Hike: 5 More Great Tips for the Urban Explorer

From The Vault: Celebrating the Concrete Jungle

Will San Francisco Become America’s First City Without Bottled Water?

Top photo: Andrew Moore

Summit photos: Amanda Zantal-Wiener

The post 4 Views That Prove Urban Hiking is the Best Part of San Francisco appeared first on EcoSalon.

It’s free, it’s fun, it helps you see the world, and the only thing stopping you doing it is your own front door.

America has a problem with walking. Its inhabitants walk the least steps per day of all the industrialized nations of the world – and a victim of its own ingenuity, as walking has been, in the words of Tom Vanderbilt, “engineered out of existence.” For all the inspiring quotes out there, people still have a problem taking to the streets without using wheels (not so surprising when those streets are often walker-unfriendly). This week in From The Vault, we take a brisk stroll through 6 walking-related posts from our archives, in the hope they make you leap our of your chair…

Our feet are amazing. Let’s use them wisely. 

…it’s easy to argue for and against flip-flops. On the one hand, they’re light, they allow air between the toes, they’re fun and of course they’re very cheap. And on the other? In today’s world, “cheap” equates to “disposable” – and flip-flops are usually made of eco-unfriendly plastics. And that ache in my ankles? It wasn’t in my head. A recent study by Auburn University (viaMoms Speak Up)  concluded that wearing toe-thonged footwear permanently altered the way you walk, putting unnatural strain on feet and ankles and resulting in the “flip-flop shuffle.“

Flip-Flops: Walking On Shaky Ground?

More alpha men and women seem to be answering the call of the wild, signing on as leader of the pack for several hours each day. For herders able to command six-to-ten furry friends at a time in a neighborhood park or at the beach, dog walking can rake in as much as $200 a day (minus the truck fuel). Scooping poop just got a lot more enticing!

But you should know it isn’t all fun and games, warns Emy Sakai, 29, owner and founder of The Urban Paw dog walking service in San Francisco. The consummate animal lover has been pet sitting and dog walking since the age of 12, starting her career working part time while working in office settings and then branching off to launch her own service, which she likens to running a daycare program.

7 Reasons Not To Diss A Career In Dog Walking

Easy tools like Google’s pedometer will help you track how far you will be walking. Plan realistically; if you’re going with a group of friends, you’ll go at a slower pace than you expect. Assume you’ll cover about one or two miles per hour. A great day trip could be 5 or 6 miles with several stopping points incorporated, keeping you active but also ensuring that the day is enjoyable.

The City Girl’s Guide To Urban Hiking

Make your urban hike a girl’s day out. Plan a shorter itinerary to allow for a slower pace – more talking equals less walking – but that hits a few key hot spots: cute cafe for lunch, a local bakery for afternoon coffee and a corner bar for evening cocktails. If you’re having trouble thinking about where to go, pick a theme for the day: Boutique Shopping, Urban Parks, Undiscovered Food Carts, etc.

Take A Hike: 5 More Great Tips For The Urban Explorer

Every wonder how many crunches it takes to burn off a Big Mac from McDonald’s? Or how many miles you have to run to burn off a large French fries from Wendy’s?

First, everyone burns calories in a different way. In other words, a 120 pound woman with 17% body fat isn’t going to burn the same amount of calories as a 250 pound man with 30% body fat. It all varies according to weight, size and metabolism. So for the purposes of this article, we figured in statistics for the average sized American woman – which is 5’4″, 140 pounds, and a size 14.

Here’s a look at our average Jane eating our favorite fast food wonders, and how she pays for them. (Not that we green Janes ever eat fast food…)

What It Takes To Burn Off 5 Fast Food Meals (And A Latte)

For some reason, human beings seem designed to really dig walking barefoot on grass. Seeing a corner of the market, Krispy Kreme (of all things) have now unveiled…the living grass flip-flop.

The world is momentarily speechless. Yes, it’s surely just a bit of fun. But you wouldn’t think it if you read the press release, which equates walking in these shoes to a healthful, one-with-nature stroll in the park. It’s a little too straight-faced to be comfortable with. (So let’s not forget what flip-flops – and doughnuts – can do).

The Living Flip-Flop: A Step Too Far?

Images: JAIRO BD, Moyan Brenn, Steve-h, revolution cycle, brartist, Let Ideas Compete, Krispy Kreme and mikebaird.

The post From The Vault: Walking The Walk appeared first on EcoSalon.

Spring has sprung. Are you ready for the season of sunshine and optimism?

The natural world is unfurling and coming alive – and we invite you to celebrate the season of renewal and boisterous good health with a springtime selection from our archives.

These flowering plants grow in the wild on open fields throughout the country. Distinguished by its spiky leaves, thistles can serve as a tasty potherb. Just cut off the leaves’ sharp tips, peel the rind off the root and use salt water to boil these parts of the plant.

A Guide to Foraging for Food: 20 Tasty Wild Plants

If you are applying to college, you have a better chance of getting in with lesser grades on a sunny day.

Uri Simonsohn is the behavioral economist at the University of California at San Diego who conducted a study of the science of sun. As he told Psychology Today, “Applicants who are strong academically are more likely to be admitted on cloudy days, whereas candidates who are strong socially are more likely to be admitted on sunny ones. Cloudy days call to mind thoughts of staying inside to read or study.” No word on what snowy days say about academics.

10 Benefits Of Sunshine

Tumble-drying needs huge amounts of energy (see below). So go for a combination of an eco-friendly spin dryer for when it’s raining, and washing lines (standard or fancy) for when the sun’s shining.

Tumble dryers use around 2.5 kwH of electricity per hour. Compared with the rest of your appliances, that’s huge. Dry naturally, and you’ll save $100s a year. Oh, and millions of tons of CO2.

Save the Planet, Save Cash: 25 Best Ways to Green your Green

Traditionally, spring-cleaning involved scouring the house from top to bottom. Our grandmothers rolled up their sleeves, grabbed a scrub brush and bucket and went to work. Comforters were packed away, windows washed until the glass gleamed, rugs beaten and aired out in the sun. That sounds like a lot of trouble to me…

From Dreaded Chore to Refreshing Ritual: How to Reinvent Spring Cleaning

Many of us want a bronzed look, but achieving a safe summer glow can be tricky. We want to look gently kissed by the sun, not smacked in the face by a metallic tangerine. So check out our favorite products this season for sun-less (and safer) color.

The Gold Guide to a Safe Summer Glow

Forget the days of mindlessly jumping in a taxi to go from point A to point B. Urban hiking is all about planning, executing and enjoying the journey, another great example of slow travel. According to the Urban Dictionary, urban hiking is “the exploration of diverse urban environments on foot.” Conservation and travel groups alike promote urban hiking, as it not only gets people outdoors and active, but also allows them to explore the ins and outs of urban landscapes…

The City Girl’s Guide to Urban Hiking

Images: Matt McGee, foxypar4, WarmSleepy, nicephore, Evil Erin and brartist.

The post From the Vault: Welcome, Spring! appeared first on EcoSalon.

As a fellow writer friend of mine recently said, “City = landscape. Treat it that way.” Sometimes we’re so caught up in doing the right things to get away from city life that we forget how rich the urban landscape itself can be. We all know that we should be making an effort to spend more time outdoors, but if you’re not lucky enough to live with acres of, say, a protected wildlife refuge in your backyard, it can be difficult to find the time to invest in driving a few hours just to take a quick hike. Which is why I love the concept of urban hiking.

Yes, I am fully aware that the words “urban hiking” can easily be equated to “walking,” but somewhere along the line we lost respect for this simple, yet energizing and fun, activity. Urban hiking is taking the simple human function of walking and turning it into a vehicle to slowing down and truly exploring the nooks and crannies of new cities, and even our own neighborhoods that we think we know like the back of our hands.

Sometimes the best adventures are right down the street, and we’ve got a list of tips and suggestions to make sure you find them, and enjoy yourself while you’re at it.

1. Plan a fruit hunt.

Spring and summer are quickly approaching, and you know what that means? Fruit picking season. Finding fresh fruit isn’t limited to rural environments, there are plenty of cities filled to the brims with fig trees, apple trees, plum trees and beyond. Urban fruit harvesting groups have popped up around the country with one simple goal: making use of fruit that would otherwise go to waste.

Many cities have fruit groups that even provide maps. Two such projects are Forage Oakland and the Philadelphia Orchard Project. If you’re in the Los Angeles area, check out Fallen Fruit. And if you can’t find a local organization that maps out fruit hot spots, take an afternoon to explore a neighborhood and make your own.

2. Pack a picnic.

There’s no point in going hungry on your urban hike, and packing a picnic allows you to do two things: prepare a tasty, organic meal and explore a local park. Figure out ahead of time where you want to spend your lunch hour and plan accordingly. Then fill your backpack with a gourmet picnic. How about a Quinoa Salad with Dried Cranberries and Pumpkin Seeds partnered with a fresh baguette and some goat cheese? Just make sure to pack reusable utensils and drinking vessels.

3. Keep a detailed urban hiker’s travel journal.

Take time to truly appreciate your local urban surroundings and start documenting them. You don’t have to be a Picasso or Proust, just willing to take a couple of notes and sketches now and then of what you’ve seen and done. Journaling lets you explore your creative side and also gives you a reference point for places you might want to remember later.

4. Don’t dress to kill.

Nobody said urban hiking adventures meant dressing in dowdy sweat pants and muddy trainers, but you should still probably keep the heels at home. That being said, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be looking good while staying comfortable, and there are some great eco-picks out there if you’re looking to inject a breath of fresh air into your urban hiking wardrobe. Check out our From Yoga to Yardwork picks for starters.

5. Take friends!

Make your urban hike a girl’s day out. Plan a shorter itinerary to allow for a slower pace – more talking equals less walking – but that hits a few key hot spots: cute cafe for lunch, a local bakery for afternoon coffee and a corner bar for evening cocktails. If you’re having trouble thinking about where to go, pick a theme for the day: Boutique Shopping, Urban Parks, Undiscovered Food Carts, etc.

Each week here at EcoSalon, the editors choose a post from the archives that we think you’ll love. The original post can be found here.

Images: Ewan-M, ginnerobot, Anna Brones, Anna Brones, mugley, Let Ideas Compete

The post Take a Hike: 5 More Great Tips for the Urban Explorer appeared first on EcoSalon.

Yes, I am fully aware that the words “urban hiking” can easily be equated to “walking,” but somewhere along the line we lost respect for this simple, yet energizing and fun, activity. Urban hiking is taking the simple human function of walking and turning it into a vehicle to slowing down and truly exploring the nooks and crannies of new cities, and even our own neighborhoods that we think we know like the back of our hands.

Sometimes the best adventures are right down the street, and we’ve got a list of tips and suggestions to make sure you find them, and enjoy yourself while you’re at it.

• «
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• »

1. Plan a fruit hunt.

Spring and summer are quickly approaching, and you know what that means? Fruit picking season. Finding fresh fruit isn’t limited to rural environments, there are plenty of cities filled to the brims with fig trees, apple trees, plum trees and beyond. Urban fruit harvesting groups have popped up around the country with one simple goal: making use of fruit that would otherwise go to waste.

Many cities have fruit groups that even provide maps. Two such projects are Forage Oakland and the Philadelphia Orchard Project. If you’re in the Los Angeles area, check out Fallen Fruit. And if you can’t find a local organization that maps out fruit hot spots, take an afternoon to explore a neighborhood and make your own.

• «
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• »

2. Pack a picnic.

There’s no point in going hungry on your urban hike, and packing a picnic allows you to do two things: prepare a tasty, organic meal and explore a local park. Figure out ahead of time where you want to spend your lunch hour and plan accordingly. Then fill your backpack with a gourmet picnic. How about a Quinoa Salad with Dried Cranberries and Pumpkin Seeds partnered with a fresh baguette and some goat cheese? Just make sure to pack reusable utensils and drinking vessels.

• «
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• »

3. Keep a detailed urban hiker’s travel journal.

Take time to truly appreciate your local urban surroundings and start documenting them. You don’t have to be a Picasso or Proust, just willing to take a couple of notes and sketches now and then of what you’ve seen and done. Journaling lets you explore your creative side and also gives you a reference point for places you might want to remember later.

• «
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• »

4. Don’t dress to kill.

Nobody said urban hiking adventures meant dressing in dowdy sweat pants and muddy trainers, but you should still probably keep the heels at home. That being said, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be looking good while staying comfortable, and there are some great eco-picks out there if you’re looking to inject a breath of fresh air into your urban hiking wardrobe. Check out our From Yoga to Yardwork picks for starters.

• «
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• »

5. Take friends!

Make your urban hike a girl’s day out. Plan a shorter itinerary to allow for a slower pace – more talking equals less walking – but that hits a few key hot spots: cute cafe for lunch, a local bakery for afternoon coffee and a corner bar for evening cocktails. If you’re having trouble thinking about where to go, pick a theme for the day: Boutique Shopping, Urban Parks, Undiscovered Food Carts, etc.

Each week here at EcoSalon, the editors choose a post from the archives that we think you’ll love. The original post can be found here.

Images: Ewan-M, ginnerobot, Anna Brones, Anna Brones, mugley, Let Ideas Compete

The post Take a Hike: 5 More Great Tips for the Urban Explorer appeared first on EcoSalon.

Soot, screeching sirens and forbidding skyscrapers; is this your definition of the big city? Think again. The urban landscape might seem like the epicenter of everything that’s wrong with the world, but in fact cities are where some of the most interesting components of the green movement are currently taking place.

With everything from urban farms and electric cars, large cities are surprisingly livable, and now there’s another trend on the rise: urban hiking. Living the city life has long been equated with staying indoors and neglecting to feed our human need for spending time in nature, but the onslaught of urban hiking tours is showing us that it is in fact possible to get outside, be active and explore new places in the process.

What is Urban Hiking?

Forget the days of mindlessly jumping in a taxi to go from point A to point B. Urban hiking is all about planning, executing and enjoying the journey, another great example of slow travel. According to the Urban Dictionary, urban hiking is “the exploration of diverse urban environments on foot.” Conservation and travel groups alike promote urban hiking, as it not only gets people outdoors and active, but also allows them to explore the ins and outs of urban landscapes.

Choose a Theme

The key to a great urban hike is planning. Pick a theme to your hike so you can choose specific points of interest to visit. This allows you to explore a certain aspect of the city you’re in and makes it easier to plan an itinerary. Here are some possible themes to consider:

1. Local food – Find three restaurants or cafes that all focus on serving local food and plan for an appetizer at each.
2. Markets – Markets abound in big cities – Paris and San Francisco in particular come to mind – and offer everything from local foods to crafts. Pick out a few you want to explore and track your route.
3. Parks – For a more natural experience, explore the green spaces that your urban environment has to offer. Choose a few within a walkable distance and pack a picnic item for each.
4. Architecture – Explore the designs and spaces that make the city that you’re in unique. Cities like Los Angeles have already started offering architecture-inspired guided urban hikes.
5. Art galleries – If you want a chicer urban hike, give it an art theme. Many cities offer an Art Walk on a certain night of the month. This is a great chance to plan a quick and easy urban hike itinerary. Plot out some of your favorite galleries that you want to check out and end the evening with a glass of wine at a local bistro.

Planning your route

Easy tools like Google’s pedometer will help you track how far you will be walking. Plan realistically; if you’re going with a group of friends, you’ll go at a slower pace than you expect. Assume you’ll cover about one or two miles per hour. A great day trip could be 5 or 6 miles with several stopping points incorporated, keeping you active but also ensuring that the day is enjoyable.

Be sure to bring

Just because you’re in the city doesn’t mean you can throw traditional hiking rules of thumb out the window. Carry a bottle of water and some healthy organic nuts or dried fruit to snack on.

If you’re planning on making stop off at a cafe, bring your reusable thermos or mug. And just in case you come across a to-die-for item in an unknown corner boutique, make sure you’ve got a reusable bag on hand.

Resources

If you’re looking for urban hiking suggestions, tourism websites are a great place to start, and many have suggested routes if you don’t want to plan your own. Guidebooks that have walking tour routes are also a great resource.

But remember, the best part about urban hikes are that you can tailor them to explore all the things that you’re interested in, so don’t be afraid to break out of the box!

Do you have a favorite urban hike? Tell us about it!

Image: brartist

The post The City Girl’s Guide to Urban Hiking appeared first on EcoSalon.