California Route Description

This hike celebrates the beauty of San Francisco and all of its landmarks and diversity.  San Francisco features prominently in Cave Dog’s memories as a favorite place to visit with his family as a child and into his adulthood, and is an outstanding feature on the face of California that is unique not only to the west coast, but to the United States in its variety.

The hike begins at 7:00 am at the Morning Sun Trailhead off of the Spencer Street Exit in the Marin Headlands, which is a marshy and largely undeveloped area that is home to many birds and wildlife and seems a world away from the hustle and bustle of the city.  As an alternative to catching up with Cave Dog at the start, an easier way to catch The Dog Team would be to join Cave Dog at Vista Point on the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge, on the east side of Highway 101.  This is a rest area with available parking.  Cave Dog will be at Vista Point at 8 am, and this will give you an opportunity to hike across the Golden Gate Bridge with him.  From the bridge, follow Cave Dog on paths above the beaches of the Peninsula out to Land’s End, where there are stunning views of the rugged California shore.  Travel on to Seal Rocks, and out to the Cliff House, balanced precariously on the western tip of the Peninsula over Ocean Beach.

From there, Cave Dog will continue east through Golden Gate Park, the largest park in the city, filled with museums, open areas for recreation, and a Japanese Tea Garden.  Heading south and east, Cave Dog will head for Twin Peaks, one of the highest points in the city that affords 360 degree views of the Peninsula.  Cave Dog will then go north through Haight –Ashbury, a neighborhood that emerged in the 1960’s as a center for countercultural thought and many protest movements.  He will continue north through the Presidio, out to Fort Point with a view of the pounding surf of the San Francisco Bay below and the spans of the Golden Gate Bridge above.  Heading east, Cave Dog will hike past Crissy Field, an excellent kite flying spot for its high winds off the bay, go within view of the Palace of Fine Arts, past the Marina neighborhood, to Fort Mason, and head to Fisherman’s Wharf.  He will pass by the barking sea lions who have taken up a home on the floating platforms between Piers 41 and 39, cut back to Ghirardelli Square, home of the former chocolate factory, and hike east up the famously tightly curving Lombard Street.  Continuing down Columbus through North Beach, Cave Dog will hike down to the Transamerica Pyramid, the city’s tallest building, which marks the beginning of the Financial District.  He will then circle around through Chinatown and head for his last landmark, Coit Tower.  Cave Dog will finish his urban hike through San Francisco on Telegraph Hill at Coit Tower, a monument built for the firefighters who fought the 1906 San Francisco fire.  Here, Cave Dog ends his journey in California, and fittingly, as from the observation deck of this building, he will have one of the most expansive views of the city, from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Bay Bridge, and over all the trails he has just traversed.

Start at Morning Sun Trailhead	7:00 am
Vista Point Rest Area, just before crossing the Golden Gate Bridge	8:00 am
Seal Rocks	10:30 am
Enter Golden Gate State Park at the intersection of Great Highway and Lincoln	10:45 am
Summit of Twin Peaks	12:45 pm
Intersection of Haight/Ashbury	1:30 pm
Fort Point	3:15 pm
Entrance of Pier 39	4:30 pm
Times after this point are difficult to estimate because there is a remote possibility that Cave Dog may do a bit of sea kayaking from Pier 39.
Finish at Coit Tower, if no sea kayaking at around 6:00 pm

0.0    Morning Sun Trailhead in Marin Headlands
0.2    Turn left onto Wolfback Ridge
0.4    Turn left onto SCA Trail
1.4    Turn left onto Coastal Marin Gate
2.2    Cross Conzelman Road and head down to the Gold Gate Bridge
         Go under the bridge
2.6    Vista Point Rest Area
         Access the east side of the bridge and cross the Gold Gate Bridge
4.4    Bear left on a path towards the parking lot.
    Turn right, and then walk through a car tunnel that goes under
    the road.
    Turn left when road T's.
    Turn right when road T's (onto Merchant)
    Turn right onto Lincoln.
    Lincoln becomes El Camino Del Mar.
5.69    Turn onto hiking trail (sign says Land's End, I think)
7.88    At fork in path, go straight toward parking lot.
    (If you miss this, you can just go around on the street)
    (If you want, you can explore some paths down, but I did not check
    them out.)
    Go through parking lot, go R. on Point Lobos
    Pass Seal Rocks, Sutro baths, Cliff House
    Point Lobos becomes Great Highway
    Walk along beach path along seawall.
    L on Lincoln
    (Immediate) L on Martin Luther King
    L on Bernice Rodgers (not marked on map, but street sign is
                marked)
    R on John F Kennedy
9.96     First bathrooms on the left (either just before or just after
    buffalo- I can't remember)
12.36     Conservatory of Flowers on your left. (You're still on JFK.)
    Directly in front of the conservatory is a tunnel going under the
    road. Get to the south side of the road at the entrance to
    the tunnel. Take the paved path that goes west (i.e. if
    you just came through the tunnel, you would turn right).
12.41    Bear L on dirt path (paved path bends to right)
12.47    Turn L on paved path
    Immediately turn L at fork at bench (towards pond)
    Walk around pond.
12.56     Turn R onto Middle Dr. (Get on footpath across the road.)
    Bear L on path at fork towards small stone wall
    Walk down steps to left towards circular sand area surrounded
    in part by a stone wall
    Go Right around the circular area, along dirt path.
    Go about 270 degrees around it.
    Just after a fork in path (turn left I think) you should see
    a tree immediately that fell down over the path, climb over it
    Proceed straight down dirt path (a streambed will be on your left
    side).
    At meadow, choose the right path (of two paths that go generally
    straight ahead)
    When the dirt path turns into a paved path, you can go left to
    check out the Circle of Friends (10 seconds walk to the left) and
    then return to where you were, or just walk straight up the paved
    path. Paved path T's into a road.
12.91    Turn R on this road. I didn't find the name of it.
    Bear R on Martin Luther King.
    Just after the road bends to the right, turn left at yellow
    pedestrian crossing signs onto paved footpath. (Extra
    description: There is a yellow pole and a yellow pillar (both
    roughly two feet high) sticking up in the path.)
13.25    You should get to a road in about 100 feet, and you will be at 5th
    and Lincoln.
    Go straight ahead on 5th after crossing the street.
    R on Kirkham
    L on 6th
13.83    L on Warren
    R on Oak Park
14.61    R on Clarendon
14.70    L on Panorama
15.00    L on Marview
    R on Skyview
15.39    L on Cityview
15.46    L on Midcrest
    At end of Midcrest, follow foot path up to Twin Peaks rd.
    Across Twin Peaks Rd. is a path- follow this path up, until you
    reach a road, which will again be Twin Peaks Rd.
    Across the road are steps.
    Go up steps to one peak.
    From summit, go down steps down other side of the peak.
    Walk between yellow lines to steps up 2nd peak.
    Go up steps to 2nd peak.
    From summit, go down steps down other side of the peak.
    Go straight down Twin Peaks Rd. (You can also go the observation
        point if you want.)
16.56    R on Clarendon (street sign says Clarendon, map says
    Clarendon/Twin Peaks) 12.35    L (Hard left) on Carmel
    R on Cole
    L on Waller
17.62    R on Stanyan
    R on Haight
17.98    Haight/Ashbury
    L on Central
    After crossing Oak, turn L onto Panhandle bike path
        (warning- at Masonic left turning cars dangerous)
18.97    Turn R on Stanyan at end of bike path
    L on Fulton
    R on Arguello
    Bear R on Arguello inside Presidio (see map)
    L on Moraga
    R on Infantry Terrace (street sign says this)
    L on Sheridan (not clear from map, but it is a L)
    Bear Left
    At some point it becomes Lincoln (maybe before the bear left- I
    don't remember)
    R on Long
22.95    Go L to Ft. Point
    Turn around
23.33    Start on Golden Gate Promenade
    Where Old Mason/Marina meets 101 on map, walk around Palace of
    Fine Arts
24.80    (Street sign says Mason and Lundeen where Old Mason/Marina meet
    on map)
    [Note: for the 1.47 miles between 18.94 and 20.41 I actually
    measured the distance along Old Mason road, not along the
    promenade. The actual distance might be slightly different.]
    Walk east along Marina (footpath on N side of road)
    Take path as it bends along the street.
    Make sure to follow path to right near the intersection of Beach
    and Laguna.
    Follow path to left, along coast. It goes up a hill along a
    shaded road, then goes down.
    Bear right at bottom of hill.
    Take left in order to follow footpath, as it goes to the left
    along the coast.
    Get to Jefferson, go straight (east) on Jefferson.
    Go into Fisherman's Wharf???
27.20    Pier 39. (Look at seals??)
    Walk across weird intersection (pass entrance to a parking
    garage (??) on the way) to get to Stockton, go straight (south) on
    Stockton
    R on North Point
    Ghirardelli Sq. is between Larkin and Polk on your right
    L on Polk
    L on Lombard
28.51    Top of Lombard
    R on Columbus
    City Lights bookstore at Columbus and Broadway
    R on Washington (at Transamerica Pyramid)
    R on Powell
    R on Broadway
    R on Stockton
    L on Sacramento
    L on Grant
30.98    Grant and Columbus (stay on Grant through the tricky intersection)
    R on Greenwich
    Go up steps
    Cross Telegraph Hill Rd.,
    Continue up steps to finish at:
31.36    Coit Tower