Outdoors
The Berkeley Hills Fire Trail has great views of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a seven-mile, secluded, woodsy path to jog or hike. Use it wisely, though: bring water, take a friend, and don’t go there after dark. The entrance is behind the Strawberry Canyon Recreational Facility.

Blake House is the official residence of the UC President. The grounds—ten acres of gardens featuring more than 1000 different species of plants from all over the world—are used by the Department of Landscape Architecture as an instructional facility. The garden is open M-F 8am to 4:30pm, and closed on some University Holidays (laep.ced.berkeley.edu/blakegarden; 70 Rincon Road, Kensington; 510/524-2449).

The Botanical Garden spreads over 34 acres with flowers, plants, trees, greenhouses, and hiking trails in the surrounding wooded hillside; and is accessible by Campus Shuttle. Docent-led tours are available, and admission is free with your Cal 1 Card (otherwise, it’s $7 for adults, $5 for seniors, or $2 for kids; admission is free on the first Thursday of the month; botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu; 200 Centennial Drive; 510/643-2755).

Cal Adventures offers outdoor programs in activities such as rock climbing, sailing, sea kayaking, team building, and windsurfing. Students can also rent equipment such as sailboats, kayaks, windsurfers, tents, and more at reasonable prices. Facilities include an aquatic site at the Berkeley Marina (www.recsports.berkeley.edu/caladventures; 510/642-4000).

The Cal Lodge, see here.

The Lawrence Hall of Science parking lot features a panoramic view of San Francisco, though the cops shoo off “star-gazing” couples parked after 9pm (accessible by the Campus Shuttle, top of Centennial Drive; real-time 24-hour webcam, sv.berkeley.edu/view).

People’s Park is a small, historic park on the southside, located between Telegraph Avenue and Bowditch Street, Haste Street and Dwight Way. It features a lawn area for studying or Frisbee/football-throwing, a basketball court, community gardens, and a stage that can be reserved for special events at no cost. Students are invited to apply for membership in the People’s Park Community Advisory Board, which meets monthly in the evening and reviews policies, programs, and park improvements (communityrelations.berkeley.edu; pplspark@berkeley.edu; 510/642-3255).

Sather Tower (aka the Campanile) provides bargain scenic thrills Monday through Friday from 10am to 4pm, Saturdays 10am to 5pm, and Sundays 10am to 1:30pm and 3pm to 5pm. (The last elevator of each day leaves 15 minutes before closing.) Wonderful carillon concerts can be heard every day at 7:50am, noon, and 6pm, with longer performances at 2pm on Sundays. Admission is free for students, staff, and faculty with your Cal 1 Card; there is a small fee for other visitors (berkeley.edu/visitors/campanile.html; $1-$2; 510/642-5215).