SAN FRANCISCO
Run
TRAVEL: 15 MILES
Hit the Dipsea Trail (dipsea.org), a seven-mile, 2,000-vertical-foot thigh-burner, from Mill Valley to Stinson Beach. Then ease sore muscles with a deep-tissue massage at Sausalito's Casa Madrona Hotel & Spa (bay-view doubles from $309; casamadrona.com).

Surf
TRAVEL: 114 MILES
Grab your board and head for Asilomar State Beach (parks.ca.gov), in Pacific Grove, for a consistent overhead break. Later, spend the night in the beautifully renovated Tradewinds Carmel (doubles from $325; tradewindscarmel.com), an Asian-inspired luxury hotel in ultra-quaint Carmel-by-the-Sea.

Rock-Climb
TRAVEL: 123 MILES
Ascend a volcanic vent at Pinnacles National Monument (nps.gov/pinn). Surreal spires and 80-foot walls with hundreds of routes (from beginner to 5.14a) make this one of the best sport-climbing areas west of the Sierra, especially during the cooler days of fall. Afterwards, pitch a tent at Arroyo Seco Campground (from $20; rockymountainrec.com), the most remote spot in the Salinas Valley.

Paddle
TRAVEL: 147 MILES
Raft Class V+ rapids on Cherry Creek. The one-day run on the Upper Tuolumne is the hairiest commercially guided whitewater trip in America, dropping an average of 110 feet per mile through slick Sierra bedrock, with 16 Class V rapids packed into just nine miles. The river is so unrelenting (the longest flatwater is a mere 400 yards), clients of Sierra Mac River Trips (one day, $290; sierramac.com) must undergo a fitness test that includes swimming 140 yards midcurrent and running 70 yards uphill on one breath. Don't fret: In 25 years of commercial trips, no one has died on Cherry Creek. When the excitement ends, stay just outside Yosemite National Park at the 17-room, Gold Rush-era Groveland Hotel (doubles from $145, including breakfast; groveland.com).