Scenic Hikes by SPUD HILTON
At 47 square miles, San Francisco might be one of the smallest major cities in the United States (New York City, by comparison, is 302 square miles). But it has something many other major cities don’t: geography. It’s big on hills and natural wonders. Mount Davidson, the highest natural point in the San Francisco city limits, is higher than any spot in five of the country’s states. That often translates into dramatic scenery and trails with their fair share of ups and downs; it’s no surprise that the city has great hikes where both the walk and the view will get your heart pumping.
Batteries to Bluffs This trail on the Presidio’s rugged western coastline weaves among the bluffs and beaches and the longsilent gun batteries of the former military base. It drops down from Lincoln Boulevard, a portion of the California Coastal Trail, via a series of stairs and paths among wildflowers, dune grasses and scrub brush. Explore Battery Crosby, a one-time gun emplacement that these days is the military equivalent of a ghost town. The landscape and views of the coast make it easy to forget you’re in a big city—though you can’t get lost because some portion of the Golden Gate Bridge is nearly always visible. Along the way,
watch for signs for a side trail down to isolated Marshall’s Beach. The route eventually climbs back up and ends at Lincoln Boulevard. If you continue a quarter mile more on the coast trail, it leads to Battery West, sprawling Battery Godfrey and the Golden Gate Overlook, one of the best vantage points for Instagram shots of the majestic bridge. »The southern trailhead is on Lincoln Boulevard, just north of Baker Beach, across the road from the trailhead to the Immigrant Point Overlook. presidio.gov
Twin Peaks The trails on Twin Peaks are not about escaping the urban landscape
10 WHERE TRAVELER SAN FRANCISCO FALL 2020
so much as offering the best view of it. From the 922-foot summits of Eureka Peak and Noe Peak, San Francisco is laid out in every direction, with the grand boulevard Market Street pointing to the heart of downtown. Saying this 64-acre city park has trails might be a little charitable: Twin Peaks Boulevard leads up to the peaks and the Christmas Tree observation point (the road was closed at press time) and the only “trails” are stairs up to the peak tops or down to civilization. Twin Peaks sometimes holds back the coastal fog, so there’s a chance the view might be, well, fluffy and white. Dress in layers. »Stairs also climb from Crestline Drive, south of Parkridge Drive, to the park.
