We escaped the city this week to check out the Steep Ravine Cabins, which, blessedly, you can rent for a night's stay, in Mt. Tamalpais State Park, just across the Golden Gate Bridge.

For just a $100, you can get your own rustic seaside cabin ("rustic" meaning a wood stove, picnic table and several benches, sleeping platforms, and an outdoor barbecue). You can also enjoy a beautiful, albeit chilly, beach, views of the ocean (on a clear day, the Farallon Islands), whales migrating down the coast, and some 6,300 acres of Pacific Coast and redwoods ripe for exploring.

The cabins were built at the base of Steep Ravine Canyon in the 1940s by William Kent, Jr., a Marin landowner, who leased them out as getaways back in the day. The land was later acquired by the state and, due to government bureaucracy, fell into disrepair. It wasn't until 1980 when the cabins received a much-needed makeover—i.e., new wood stoves, tables, and sleeping platforms. Four years later, additional steps and paths were built for occupants looking to get out of the city for a spell. 

To make a reservation, which you should do months in advance, go here.