ABOUT US
Our Background
Our tours aren’t your leisurely strolls in sandals. Nope, you’ll need to lace up your hiking boots (or at least good walking shoes) and fill your Camelback for our expeditions. We've mapped out routes you won’t find anywhere else — where you’ll traverse hilltops, ascend endless stairways and explore all the hidden spots that you never even knew existed in this city. Come on an urban hike with us and you’ll see a side of the city that few get to experience!
OUR FOUNDER
Hello!
I'm Alexandra Kenin and I’m the founder of Urban Hiker. While living in New York in 2004, I took a vacation to San Francisco and realized I didn't want to come home.
It took three years, but I finally moved to San Francisco in 2007. When I bought my one-way ticket out west, my father bought me a copy of Adah Bakalinsky's Stairway Walks in San Francisco. At the time, I was a marketing manager at Google and would commute up to three hours a day. On weekends, inspired by the Stairway Walks book, I would take off to explore my new home on foot. One fateful day, a native San Franciscan friend brought me on a walk to the Embarcadero via the Vallejo and Filbert Street Steps. I loved the views from by the stairways, I loved the exercise I got from climbing them, and I loved how they seemed to be a secret to most. From that moment on, I was hooked on urban hiking.