Spot whales off the Pacific Coast… Frolic with animals in San Francisco’s urban parks… The landscape of Northern California allows wildlife to thrive—hawks circle the skies of the Marin Headlands through the fall season, elk chill on the lush, open grass of Pierce Point Ranch in the Point Reyes National Seashore, and snowy egrets and blue herons fly about at Audubon Canyon Ranch in West Marin.
Point Reyes, in fact, is full of opportunities to encounter wildlife up close:
-Duck, eagle, egret, and heron watching at the Giacomini Wetlands
-Kayaking among birds and bat rays at Drake’s Estero in Inverness
-Elephant seal pupping and mating at Chimney Rock (December—March)
-Whale watching at the Point Reyes Lighthouse (December—April) (An alternative? Embark on a whale watching boat tour off the coast to the Farallon Islands, about 27 miles from San Francisco, between May—November)
But you don’t have to trek far outside the city to glimpse at our wild(er) neighbors. In San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, stroll past bison grazing in the grass of the Bison Paddock, along John F. Kennedy Drive between Spreckels Lake and Chain of Lakes Drive. And, if you haven’t paid a visit to the San Francisco Zoo, summer is the time to go: spend the day sunning with baby giraffes or view the facility’s adorable baby gorilla, Hasani. This week, July 19—25, is National Zookeeper Week: meet zookeepers at various exhibits and ask questions about the zoo’s residents.
Finally, down the Peninsula at the Coyote Point Museum in San Mateo, docents roam the grounds with creatures in their hands. Housing more than 100 animals, the museum has river otters, coyotes, two bobcats, reptiles, and other critters.