I was raised in the East Bay and we would head "up to Yosemite" or "up to Tahoe" because they are in the mountains, even though they are mostly eastward. Similarly, we'd probably say "up to Mount Tam" or "up to Mount Diablo" from anywhere in the Bay Area. Those are not big mountains, but they stick out of the local topography.
A weird one is we might say "up to Muir Woods" even though the approach by car feels like you're descending into grotto. But I think that is because we also think about it being north of us, related to San Rafael. In general, we'd use up/down for north/south when elevation wasn't the most significant mood.
We might head "down to Santa Cruz" if we were in Oakland since it feels like a trip south. If we were in San Jose or Palo Alto, we might say "over to Santa Cruz" because it feels primarily like traversing some mountains. But I think we would say "down to Santa Cruz" if we were in San Francisco and planning to take Highway 1 along the coast.
A weird one is we might say "up to Muir Woods" even though the approach by car feels like you're descending into grotto. But I think that is because we also think about it being north of us, related to San Rafael. In general, we'd use up/down for north/south when elevation wasn't the most significant mood.
We might head "down to Santa Cruz" if we were in Oakland since it feels like a trip south. If we were in San Jose or Palo Alto, we might say "over to Santa Cruz" because it feels primarily like traversing some mountains. But I think we would say "down to Santa Cruz" if we were in San Francisco and planning to take Highway 1 along the coast.