Spies, Yoda, Andy Goldsworthy sculptures, Walt Disney drawings: SF's best-kept secrets are revealed along Presidio hiking paths. This retired army base is now a panoramic public park packed with attractions – including sweeping Golden Gate Bridge views previously only seen by top brass and passing commuters.
Back to Nature
"Presidio" means fort in Spanish – but in San Francisco, it's a playground. It started in 1776 as a Spanish military post built by conscripted Ohlone people, and was officially retired from military duty in 1996. To the obvious delight of shorebirds, puppies and people, the Presidio of San Francisco is now a national park. To allow wildlife to thrive in the park, commuter traffic was rerouted underground – revealing glorious views clear across the bay from driftwood-shaped picnic benches at Tunnel Tops park, with the nature-themed Outpost Playground downhill.
On hot days, race the crowds to Baker Beach, the sandy Presidio cove with spectacular views of the Golden Gate framed by wind-sculpted pines – plus nude sunbathing behind the rocks on the clothing-optional, gay-friendly, no-photography-allowed north end. Picnickers and sand-castle architects stick to the sandy south end, near the parking.
Happy Trails
Hiking adventures begin at the Presidio Visitors Center, well-supplied with trail maps. For a moderately challenging, inspirational 1.4-mile hike, follow the Ecology Trail through redwood groves and spring wildflower meadows to Inspiration Point for bird's-eye bay views, then push onward to reach the Presidio's artistic pinnacle: Andy Goldsworthy's Spire, made from reclaimed cypress trees. Adventurous hikers take on the 2.7-mile Batteries to Bluffs Trail, heading uphill above Baker Beach to splendid Golden Gate Bridge vistas.
Follow San Franciscan regulars to Crissy Field to stroll, jog, bike, skate or roll along scenic, flat, wheelchair-accessible paths. The strip where military planes once landed is now a reclaimed tidal marsh, where birders perch on strategically positioned benches. Puppies chase kite-fliers across Crissy Field's grassy lawn, and windsurfers skim bay waters along East Beach. Pick up the Bay Trail to reach Fort Point (1.6 miles from East Beach) and head over the Golden Gate Bridge, or stop at certified-green cafe Warming Hut to browse California field guides and warm up with fair-trade coffee.
Military Secrets, Revealed
Over two centuries, the Presidio stood armed and ready for invasions that never arrived. At an eye-watering cost of more than $100 million in today's terms, Fort Point (free; 10am-5pm Fri-Sun) mounted 102 cannons to fight the US Civil War – but Confederate ships never made it this far. Battery Bluff guns weren't fired in WWI, and Cold War Nike nuclear missile operations in Battery Caulfield were quietly suspended in 1974.
The Presidio Officers' Club was long off-limits to civilians – today it houses the Heritage Gallery (free; Fri-Sun 11am-4pm), which showcases the Presidio's history as ancestral Ohlone homeland for over 10,000 years and its 250 years of military service for Spain, Mexico and the US. The Presidio's top-secret WWII spycraft school is now the Military Intelligence Service Historic Learning Center (njahs.org/building-640; adult/child $10/free; noon-5pm Sat & Sun). Japanese American soldiers lived and trained in this drafty bunkhouse as code-breakers and spies for high-risk WWII intelligence missions, while their families were incarcerated as supposed "enemy aliens" in accordance with US Executive Order 9066. Fascinating exhibits show how the Japanese American 442nd regiment became the most decorated unit in US history.
