Upcoming dates:
The last two December roams have been postponed due to the impending rains. See details below.
January 3rd, 9th, 10th, 23rd, 25th.
February 6th, 7th, 13th, 15th, 21st.
Roams over the winter months are somewhat weather dependent, and these may get rescheduled depending on the forecast. The Meetup page and the Instagram page will have the latest news if there are any changes to the plan.
All weekend roams start at 1:30, lasting around three hours, and Friday ones at 3:00, generally taking two hours. All roams are loops unless otherwise stated; I also flag any longer or especially hilly routes – see below for examples of both.
If your new year resolution is to get fitter and stronger, the first roam of 2026 is just what you need. I spent some time over the summer trying to puzzle out a route that incorporated all the staircases in Golden Gate Heights and Forest Hill, without too much repetition or deviation – and I think I managed it (there may be a set that I missed in my planning).
We will be either climbing or descending twenty-four sets of stairs between West Portal and Kirkham Street, visiting the longest ones, on the west of Golden Gate Heights, first. Naturally this includes the three tiled staircases on the Inner Sunset side.
This will be a little longer than the average roam, at five and a half miles, and also a lot tougher than many. Obviously, if stairs are not your thing, this is not the roam for you!
We will start from in front of the West Portal library at 1:30 on Saturday 3rd, returning there hopefully before the sun sets at 5:03.
The first Friday roam of 2026, on the 10th, will also be a challenging one, as we tackle Mount Sutro the hard way. We will start at the Kezar Stadium (meeting at the corner where Frederick meets Willard), and head up Stanyan – including one of the steepest blocks in the city, and take some less well-used trails to the summit, before we drop back down again to our starting point. There will be plenty of off-roading, so if it rains a lot before then, we may have to postpone.
One aspect of Roaming Zen for me is to set foot in neighbourhoods which we might not otherwise think about visiting, to find the beauty and interest there.
There is a new one-way roam on Saturday 10th, to Yosemite Slough and Candlestick Point. I have been riding around this area a certain amount recently, and found not only a deserted portion of the Bay Trail, but also expanses of waterside open space that are fairly neglected. This part of town is also home to some grimy industrial streets, and a number of RV dwellers, so be mindful of this.
We will meet at the Bayview Library, on 3rd St at Revere, and end at the Arleta stop of the T streetcar (which is also close to Bayshore Caltrain and the #8 bus). This is very flat, and there will be some off-roading.
This Friday roam was postponed from the rainy week before Christmas to January 23rd.
I always enjoy spending time on China Beach, which is mid-renovation at the moment (as is Robin Williams’ house adjacent to the beach street entrance). Apart from the beach we will roam around the fine houses and hidden alleys of Seacliff, but mostly this will be to take the sea air. We will meet at the Lincoln Park playground, by the rocks at the corner of Clement and 33rd.
Also postponed from December, we will visit Crissy Field, which has been a draw for me over the years that I have lived here, on Sunday 25th. Again, being by the water with the big skies is a great antidote to the short days, and we will spend much of our time along the waterfront. We will start from the Presidio Visitors Center (look for us on the side away from the bridge and closer to the bathrooms). This is almost entirely flat, with lots of sand.
I have thought about some roams I want to bring back early next year. In March, we will have a tenth anniversary roam, treading the same paths as we did on the very first roam in 2016. I am always open to requests, if you have any favourites that you would like to do again.
Bring water, snacks, and layers for whatever the weather is doing. Punctuality is always appreciated.
These roams are offered by donation. They are one way I am able to afford to live in San Francisco.
‘Shundo David Haye has probably walked through more parts of San Francisco than you have.’ I’ll take that endorsement – it came from this nice article in the SF Chronicle at the beginning of the pandemic
Camille, who I have known through Zen Center for more than twenty years, had a lovely piece on Roaming Zen published in the Bold Italic.
Corona Heights – the first picture I used to promote Roaming Zen.
Views to the Farallones from this little-known park.
If you need some prompts as to the benefits of roaming, here are a trio of articles from the Guardian:
Two-hour ‘dose’ of nature significantly boosts health – study
Woodland sounds help relaxation more than meditation apps – study
Blue spaces: why time spent near water is the secret of happiness
All of which is achievable without leaving the city limits!
And this from the New Yorker:
A small but growing collection of studies suggests that spending time in green spaces—gardens, parks, forests—can rejuvenate the mental resources that man-made environments deplete. Psychologists have learned that attention is a limited resource that continually drains throughout the day. A crowded intersection—rife with pedestrians, cars, and billboards—bats our attention around. In contrast, walking past a pond in a park allows our mind to drift casually from one sensory experience to another, from wrinkling water to rustling reeds.
Or, to put a name to it, Attention Restoration Theory.
The genesis for Roaming Zen was perhaps my shuso practice period at Tassajara in 2012, where I noticed that I derived as much energy from being on the trails or up the road, among the trees and by the creek, as I did from the hours in the zendo. It was also crystalised by a visit to Tassajara with a group from Young Urban Zen a year or two later: after the days of work, a group of us set off for a hike along the Horse Pasture trail, and at one stage, hearing all the talk of people’s pre-occupations and mundane affairs, someone in the group asked if we could all hike in silence for a while and properly take in the surroundings. Afterwards, the agreed verdict was that the silence had transformed the hike.
And so, having tried versions of it at City Center, Green Gulch and Tassajara, one of my favourite things to do these days is to gather a small group of people, and lead them around a chosen route, cultivating mindful presence through walking and sitting quietly in the midst of city life.
There are so many little corners of San Francisco that lend themselves to the activity, surrounded by beauty, views, and sometimes quiet. We have visited forests, hills and canyons, creeks and beaches, staircases and alleys, lakes and hidden parks; we have listened to birds and waves, watched butterflies, bees and coyotes, smelled flowers and ocean spray. We have looked over all sides of San Francisco and to the mountains beyond.
I like to give credit to OpenStreetMap, for featuring much more detail in paths and trails than I ever get from Apple Maps or Google Maps – I would not have found some of these routes without it – and FoundSF/OpenSF History for filling me in on what used to be in the places we visit.
Shundo David Haye - Zen Priest 