Every Trail Tells a Story
Baker Beach
Coastal San Francisco’s best Golden Gate Bridge views
History, from “disappearing gun” to Ansel Adams’ childhood
A mix of dunes, cliffs, seabirds-and a famously clothing-optional vibe
On this hike to and along Baker Beach, get amazing photo ops of the Bay and Golden Gate Bridge from many different vantage points, including a high view from the Coastal Trail and a straight-on view from the beach. At day’s end, the bridge and nearby hills turn shades of gold, orange, and red.
Extending a mile below the rugged cliffs on the Presidio’s western shoreline, Baker Beach is one of San Francisco’s best-known strands-and one of its most colorful. The sweep of sand runs south from Golden Gate Point (where the Golden Gate Bridge touches down) to the dignified neighborhood of Seacliff. Offshore, dolphins and harbor seals sometimes surface. Onshore, the crowds range from families picnicking in sheltered dunes to the clothing-optional set north of Lobos Creek.
Baker Beach is a place of juxtapositions. A short stroll from the parking lot takes you to Battery Chamberlin, where a 50-ton “disappearing gun” once helped defend San Francisco’s shoreline. The massive six-inch weapon, built in 1904, was designed to pop up, fire, and drop back out of sight. It looks like something out of a Jules Verne illustration-and its only battle these days is against rust. On the first weekend of each month, volunteers crank the machinery and demonstrate the giant cannon in action, to the delight of history buffs and wide-eyed kids.
Nature buffs, meanwhile, find intrigue in the dunes and cliffs. This isn’t sterile sand-specialized plants such as silver beach bur and yellow sand verbena thrive here, having adapted to winds, salt spray, and shifting grains. Serpentine rock, California’s official state rock, pokes through the cliffs, hosting rare wildflowers and lending the Presidio’s bluffs their distinctive greenish hue.
And for photographers, the beach is a canvas of moods. Ansel Adams himself wrote fondly in his autobiography of boyhood days spent rambling here, chasing seabirds and getting sand between his toes. Long before Yosemite defined his vision, the natural drama of Baker Beach was shaping his eye.
As a trailhead, Baker Beach connects outward: the Lobos Creek Valley Trail, the Battery to Bluffs Trail, the California Coastal Trail, and the infamous Sand Ladder that tests calf muscles on the way up to the bridge. Hike, linger, picnic, or simply watch the fog creep and roll-it’s all part of the Baker Beach experience.
From Highway 101 northbound, take the Presidio/Golden Gate exit. Turn right on Lincoln Boulevard and drive 1.1 mile to the Baker Beach turnoff. Turn right on Bowley Street, right onto Gibson Street, and right onto Battery Chamberlin Road to plenty of parking.
If you wander down-coast you’ll come to Lobos Creek, which flows into the Pacific at the south end Baker Beach. In his autobiography, Ansel Adams recalled the many delightful days he spent here as a child. These childhood adventures were the great nature photographer’s first contact with the natural world.
Keep an eye out for birds-cormorants, pigeon guillemots and brown pelicans offshore and Western gulls, sanderlings and willets foraging onshore.
At its north end, Baker Beach ends at a rocky point. Just on the other side is another sand strand-Marshall’s Beach. To hike there from Baker Beach, ascend the “Sand Ladder” to the California Coastal Trail and a quick connection to Battery to Bluffs Trail.