While it may be an urban metropolis, the San Francisco Bay Area is also defined by glorious natural settings and abundant parklands that bring a welcome respite from city life. Whether it’s the East Bay hills, the San Mateo Coast or the redwood forests of Marin County, these protected places provide immeasurable ways to recreate, celebrate and rejuvenate.
In addition to their natural attributes, many of these parklands feature high-quality lodging and venues for both indoor and outdoor events.
San Francisco
While a compact and densely populated city, San Francisco has outstanding open spaces where forests, meadows and water take precedence over high-rises and asphalt.
Among these is the Presidio of San Francisco, a 1,500-acre oasis on the edge of the Golden Gate that since its transition from military base to national park has continually added new visitor attractions and event spaces. Outdoor activities include hiking on 24 miles of trials, cycling on 15 miles of bike paths and golf on an 18-hole championship course.
In February, the Presidio Visitors Center opened in a refurbished early 20th century guardhouse in the heart of the park overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. Providing an introduction to the Presidio, the center offers interactive exhibits such as a large video wall with a calendar of daily events and dramatic images.
The Presidio provides a wealth of venues, chief among them the recently restored Presidio Officer’s Club, a Spanish Colonial building dating from the 1700s that offers a history gallery, ballroom accommodating up to 300 people, Mexican restaurant operated by chef Traci Des Jardins and private dining areas. The Inn at the Presidio, Walt Disney Family Museum, Golden Gate Club and the San Francisco Film Centre are among many other venue choices.
The Presidio’s largest and most spectacular area for outdoor events is Crissy Field, a former U.S. Army airfield that runs along a magnificent stretch of shoreline just east of the Golden Gate Bridge. Its former warehouses and hangars are now home to businesses like House of Air, a trampoline park, and Batter’s Box SF, which offers batting cages, pitching machines and space for private events.
AlliedPRA San Francisco, a destination management company, recently found Crissy Field to be an ideal setting for a large event planned for a tech company, said Zorianna Smith, director of marketing and product development.
“We had all sorts of big inflatable and interactive games set up along the beach,” she said. “We brought in a band and a cool mobile stage that looked like an Airstream trailer. With the Golden Gate Bridge as a backdrop, it was really spectacular.”
Marin County
“Over 80 percent of Marin County is protected open space, so for teambuilding and outdoor adventure, you really can’t beat it,” said Christine Bohkle, director of sales and marketing for Visit Marin.
These natural areas come into view soon after crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, starting with Cavallo Point Lodge in the former Fort Baker military base, an expanse of rolling hills and shoreline at the foot of the majestic span. The upscale 174-room property offers accommodations in contemporary hillside structures and in restored former officers’ quarters with tin ceilings, fireplaces and spacious porches with bay views.
Outdoor and wellness activities abound at the lodge, including interpretive walks in the surrounding Golden Gate Recreation Area, outdoor yoga sessions, biking, kayaking and bird watching. Available for teambuilding and private events, Cavallo Point Cooking School offers hands-on learning from well-known chefs working with products from local farms and vintners.
Just north of Cavallo, Muir Woods National Monument with its groves of old-growth redwoods and the quaint bayside town of Sausalito make for an ideal group outing, according to Smith of AlliedPRA.
“We usually start with a hike in Muir Woods led by a naturalist,” she said. “Then we pair it with lunch in Sausalito at Ondine, which has terrific private event space overlooking the bay and San Francisco skyline. The group can have free time for shopping and take the ferry back to San Francisco if they wish.”
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East Bay
Just across the Bay Bridge from San Francisco, communities such as Oakland, Berkeley and the Concord/Diablo Valley area offer a vast network of outstanding parklands, many of them part of the East Bay Regional Park District.
Among these is Tilden Park, a 2,079-acre spread in the hills above Berkeley with 40 miles of hiking trails, a botanical garden, steam train, 18-hole golf course and other attractions. Among its indoor venues is the gracious Brazilian Room, a timbered historic structure surrounded by landscaped gardens with doors opening onto a flagstone terrace. It accommodates up to 150 people for seated events and up to 225 for receptions.
Another gem of the Berkeley hills is the Claremont Club & Spa, which recently completed a property-wide renovation under its new management by Fairmont Hotels. The elegant historic hotel offers stellar views of San Francisco Bay, over 20,000 square feet of meeting space and a secluded atmosphere with 22 acres of landscaped gardens, a full-service spa, tennis courts, multiple pools and other resort amenities.
Not far from the Claremont, Oakland’s Temescal Regional Recreation Area offers the Lake Temescal Beach House, a charming 1940s stone building with a garden patio accommodating up to 130 people for catered events. Another scenic area in Oakland is the Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline, with grassy glades and wetlands rich with birdlife. Available for indoor and outdoor events, the Shoreline Center accommodates up to 125 people and offers a commercial kitchen, main room and a large outdoor deck.
Surrounded by redwoods high in the hills above Oakland, Chabot Space & Science Center is one of the region’s outstanding venues and a great place to enjoy stellar views of the Bay Area and night skies. Originally built as an observatory, the modern center offers the latest in interactive exhibits relating to space and earth sciences. Chabot can host gala receptions for up to 500 people, presentations with sophisticated audiovisual needs in the 205-seat Tien MegaDome theater and innovative teambuilding events in its science labs and surrounding parkland.
Groups can also enjoy shows in a 240-seat planetarium or in small portable planetariums that can be set up for customized presentations. Events can also include use of the center’s ultra-powerful reflector telescopes, the largest on the West Coast available to be public, for spectacular night-sky viewing.
East of Oakland, Mt. Diablo is the stunning centerpiece of a region that encompasses the communities of Concord, Walnut Creek, Livermore, Pleasanton, San Ramon and others. Mt. Diablo State Park is one of the area’s major outdoor assets and visitor attractions, according to Kerri Harris-Gay, director of sales and catering for the Concord Clarion Hotel and a representative for Visit Concord CA, formerly Visit Diablo Valley.
Visitors can hike, bike or drive to the summit of the nearly 4,000-foot-high Mt. Diablo, the loftiest point in the Bay Area, where a 1930s stone visitors center offers interactive exhibits on the mountain’s history and geology and telescopes for taking in views that encompass almost all of Northern California.
Along with affordable hotel rates, convenient access on Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and shopping and dining options, Visit Concord promotes the Diablo Valley parklands as a reason to meet in the area.
“We have great trails for hiking and biking here, especially on Mt. Diablo, where you can really enjoy our sunny weather,” Harris-Gay said. “These are wonderful free-time options for groups.”
San Mateo County
South of San Francisco, the San Mateo County coast offers a wealth of dramatic places for hiking along coastal cliffs and exploring tide pools and rocky coves. Among its newest accessible areas is the Devil’s Slide Trail in Pacifica, a 1.3-mile multiuse trail repurposed from a segment of Highway 1 that was replaced by a tunnel. Paved with separate lanes for hikers and cyclists, the spectacular trail offers observation points and interpretive plaques explain the history and geology of the area.
The coast also offers a number of hotels and resorts that emphasize outdoor activities and scenic event spaces for groups. Among them is The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay, a 261-room luxury property set atop seaside bluffs 20 miles south of San Francisco. The spacious grounds adjoin coastal trails and are dotted with informal gathering spots set around fire pits.
“We have the Ocean Lawn for large receptions and also numerous spaces where groups can have their own fire pits and deck areas,” said Chrissy Wean, director of sales. “You don’t need to bring in decor. The waves crashing and the sunsets create the wow factor.”
At the southern end of the San Mateo Coast near Pigeon Point Lighthouse, Costanoa is a secluded eco-tourist resort adjacent to four state parks with 30,000 acres of hiking trails. Accommodations are in a 39-room main lodge, 12 Douglas fir cabins with skylights and several tented bungalows. Meeting areas include an events lawn and 1,550 square feet of indoor space in the restored Ranch House. The resort offers numerous activity options for groups, including yoga sessions, interpretive nature walks, horseback riding, kayaking, mountain biking and spa treatments.
