Day Trippin' › California › From San Francisco › Within 4 hours
227 places are worth the drive within 4 hours of San Francisco, counted by road time from ZIP 94103: 31 under 1 hour, 67 1 to 2 hours, 52 2 to 3 hours and 77 3 to 4 hours.
The mix leans toward history, hikes and beaches & lakes, mostly to the southeast and east. Four hours each way is weekend territory: most of these work best with a night away, so check the places to stay on the state page.
The headline places are Muir Woods National Monument, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom and Winchester Mystery House, and the closest real day trip is Chabot Space and Science Center (25 min).
Under 1 hour 1 to 2 hours 2 to 3 hours 3 to 4 hours
Photo: Matthew Dillon from Hollywood, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0
Hike · 28 min northwest
Easy paths through old coast redwoods in a quiet canyon just north of the city.
Photo: The wub, CC BY-SA 4.0
Landmark · 48 min southeast
A huge odd mansion in San Jose with stairs to nowhere and doors that open to walls.
Photo: Chris6d, CC BY-SA 4.0
Island · 53 min north
Ferry to the old island prison with an audio tour and big city views.
Theme park · 36 min north
Roller coasters, a water park and live animal shows in one park in Vallejo.
Photo: Doc Searls, CC BY-SA 2.0
Small town · 35 min south
A coast town with a historic main street, beaches and pumpkin patches in fall.
Photo: Daderot, CC0
Food town · 51 min north
Food hall by the Napa River in downtown Napa with cheese, oysters and coffee.
Photo: The wub, CC BY-SA 4.0
Theme park · 1 hr 15 min south
Classic seaside amusement park with a wooden coaster, arcade and a wide beach next door.
Photo: myyorgda, CC BY 2.0
Observatory · 1 hr 21 min southeast
Historic hilltop telescopes above San Jose with a long winding road and big views.
Photo: Morn (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0
Historic site · 1 hr 25 min northeast
A riverfront district of Gold Rush and railroad-era buildings with wooden sidewalks, under Tower Bridge.
Photo: Trurl66, Public domain
State park · 1 hr 9 min east
A tall peak in the East Bay with a summit road, wide views and many trails.
Photo: Taras Bobrovytsky, CC0
Island · 1 hr 11 min north
Ferry to a bay island with a loop road, hiking, bike rentals and old military sites.
Photo: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
Aquarium · 1 hr 54 min south
World-famous aquarium with kelp forest, jellyfish and sea otters, right on the water.
Photo: Brocken Inaglory, CC BY-SA 3.0
National park · 2 hr 11 min southeast
Spires and talus caves from an ancient volcano, plus condors and good hiking trails.
Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri, CC BY 3.0
Historic site · 2 hr 12 min northeast
The place in Coloma where the 1848 gold find set off the Gold Rush, with a replica sawmill, a museum and gold panning on the American River.
Photo: Wordydave, CC BY-SA 3.0
Waterfall · 2 hr 39 min south
Short walk to an overlook of an ocean waterfall dropping onto a beach.
Photo: MARELBU, CC BY 3.0
State park · 2 hr 49 min east
Giant sequoias in the North Grove on an easy, mostly flat loop, where the big trees first became famous in the 1850s.
Photo: Jef Poskanzer, CC BY 2.0
Small town · 2 hr 54 min northwest
A seaside village on a bluff with art galleries, shops and Victorian houses.
Photo: Kglavin, CC BY 2.5
State park · 2 hr 14 min north
A lakeshore park with swimming, boating, fishing and campsites at the largest natural lake in the state.
Photo: Ggerdel - Foto de: Gustavo Gerdel, CC BY-SA 4.0
Beach · 3 hr 4 min northwest
A pebble beach with sea glass pieces polished by waves. Look, do not take.
Photo: Chad K, CC BY 2.0
Landmark · 3 hr 15 min north
A glass-decked footbridge over the Sacramento River in Redding that works as a giant sundial, linked to miles of river trails.
Photo: Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0
Viewpoint · 3 hr 32 min east
The classic first look at Yosemite Valley, with El Capitan, Bridalveil Fall and Half Dome in one frame. Pull off right on the way in.
Photo: chensiyuan, CC BY-SA 4.0
Waterfall · 3 hr 40 min east
The tallest waterfall in the park, with an easy paved walk to the base of the lower fall. Spring flow is biggest; it can run dry by late summer.
Photo: Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0
Hike · 3 hr 41 min east
Walk among huge sequoias including the Grizzly Giant. A shuttle or short hike runs from the welcome plaza.
Photo: Jana Taylor, CC BY-SA 3.0
Scenic drive · 3 hr 43 min northwest
A 31-mile old highway beside US 101 through Humboldt Redwoods, with pullouts and short grove walks along the way.
Our picks, by drive time, include Muir Woods National Monument (28 min), Winchester Mystery House (48 min), Alcatraz Island (53 min), Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (36 min) and Half Moon Bay (35 min). The full list on this page has 227 places, each with its drive time and direction from San Francisco.
98 places within 2 hours, 150 within 3 hours and 227 within 4 hours of San Francisco, by road from ZIP 94103.
64 of the 227 places need no pass or fee, such as Alameda Creek Regional Trail, Half Moon Bay and Lafayette-Moraga Regional Trail. Fees and passes change, so check each place before you go.
206 places are marked good for kids, including Alameda Creek Regional Trail, Alcatraz Island and Alum Rock Park.
They are by real roads on a typical day, from the middle of ZIP 94103 to each place (OpenStreetMap data with the OSRM route planner). Traffic, weather and closures can change them. Places under 25 minutes from the city center count as in town, not a day trip, so they are left out.
Yes. Type your ZIP code into Day Trippin' and it shows everything by drive time. Your ZIP is used for that one search and is not saved.
Drive times are by road on a typical day from ZIP <class 'zip'> (OpenStreetMap data with the OSRM route planner). Facts checked against official sites; passes and hours change, so check before you go.