Jamie Ferrell, Author at Secret San Francisco

Hi there! I grew up in Santa Cruz and graduated from UC Berkeley in 2018 with an English major and Spanish minor. After teaching ESL for a few years, I joined the Secret Media Network as a Staff Writer. I love to write about California history, hidden gems, museum exhibitions, and local wildlife.

This unfinished 1,230-mile California trail quietly links dozens of secret beaches, WWII bunkers, and Gold Rush towns — after 50 years of development, it’s about 70% complete

The California Coastal Trail (CCT) is a long-running public initiative first proposed in 1975, with the goal of building a continuous network of trails spanning the entire California coastline, from the M...

Escapes

1.5 hours from SF: Roaring Camp is running summer rides to a hidden dinner party in the redwoods

About 1.5 hours away from San Francisco in Felton, California, Roaring Camp Railroads is a recreated 1880s logging-era town hosting one of the area's most quintessentially Californian experiences in the r...

Wellness & Nature

45 minutes from SF: The $8 mountain peak where you can watch Marin’s elusive ‘rolling fog’ phenomenon this summer

Mount Tamalpais, often called “Mount Tam,” is a striking mountain peak located about 17 miles north of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. Widely considered an emblem of Marin County, the mountain is cele...

Music

The country’s longest-running free nonprofit music festival kicks off in San Francisco this Sunday — here’s one last trick to try and get free tickets

The legendary Stern Grove Festival kicks off in San Francisco this Sunday, ringing in a summer of free open-air concerts in a historic urban park on Sloat Boulevard. The series has been around since 1938,...

Escapes

1 hour from SF: National Geographic named this unfinished 400-mile trail among its ‘100 hikes of a lifetime’ — the new 14.1-mile section is one of the longest sections ever dedicated at once

National Geographic’s latest book, 100 Hikes of a Lifetime U.S.A. by Stephanie Pearson, highlights some of the most breathtaking, must-do trails across the country. Fortunately for Bay Area residents,...

Escapes Food & Drink

1.5 hours from SF: After nearly 2 decades of development, the Napa Valley Vine Trail has completed about 70% of its 47-mile path — it connects 236 wineries

Did you know about this scenic public trail project taking shape in Napa Valley? The Napa Valley Vine Trail began as a simple yet ambitious idea in the late '90s to create a car-free path that lets pe...

Things To Do

30 minutes from SF: This century-old county fair kicks off its 8-day run today with drone shows, humanoid robots, duck races, and retro videogames

Start the summer with a bang at the San Mateo County Fair! The popular county fair has been around for a century, and today is the first day of its 2026 run. This year's theme is "In Bloom," a nod to the...

Escapes Food & Drink

1.5 hours from SF: This adorable produce-themed amusement park is kicking off its month-long cherry festival this weekend — awarded the industry’s ‘best new food & beverage event’

Last year, the legendary Gilroy Gardens introduced a brand-new event, the Cherry Jubilee—a month-long celebration packed with family-friendly entertainment and a wide array of cherry-inspired food and dri...

Food & Drink

Adam Sandler ate at this legendary Bay Area restaurant 4 times in 4 days this week

Adam Sandler is in San Francisco this week to shoot the new Netflix psychological drama Time Out, and he's wasted no time becoming a regular at Original Joe's, a legendary Italian-American restaurant that...

After 86 years, the San Francisco Zoo’s historic Lion House says goodbye to its last two aging big cats

On May 27th, the San Francisco Zoo & Gardens announced plans to transfer its two remaining African lions to another accredited facility. Administrators made the difficult decision to pause its Afr...