One of the most underrated + overlooked National Parks, Pinnacles is about an 1.5 hour south of Santa Cruz and 2 hours from San Francisco and filled with some of the most spectacular views you'll ever come across. It offers extensive hiking through diverse mountainous scenery, rock climbing, wildflowers, and of course, wildlife watching (especially famous for homing the California Condor). Due to the extreme summer heat, the best seasons for visiting Pinnacles NP are the cooler ones and Springtime is exceptional for wildflower viewing. Definitely don't count this one out just because of its lesser notoriety, it's a truly remarkable slice of nature worth every bit of exploration and admiration out there. Not to mention that because of its close proximity to many Bay Area favorites, such as Big Sur, Gilroy, Santa Cruz + San Jose - it's an easy trip to tack onto a NorCal/Bay-Area itinerary!