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Recently I discovered that San Francisco's Presidio, made a national park in 1994 after the Army
decommissioned it as a military base, has been developed into a spectacular
tourist destination, yet with respect for the environment, the history, and the
overwhelming natural beauty of the area. One of its major attractions is the
hiking trails, some still rather primitive and sometimes challenging, but all affording
opportunities unmatched in any other urban environment.
From its website:
In 1972, the Presidio of San Francisco - then an active installation - was included within the boundaries of the
Golden Gate National Recreation Area. On October 1, 1994, after the post became excess to military needs, it was transferred to the National Park Service.
In 1996, Congress created the Presidio Trust, a federal agency charged with preserving the natural, cultural, scenic, and recreational resources of the Presidio, and transferred administration of the park's interior lands and more than 700 buildings to the Presidio Trust. Today, the Presidio welcomes local, national, and international visitors and is home to a community of residents and diverse organizations.
After several recent visits to the Presidio to attend lectures
(This was the one that caught my attention initially), I started to notice how much it had changed
since I first saw it almost fifty years ago. I knew that some of the buildings had been leased to private
companies, but not that the housing had been converted to rentals, nor that there were free shuttles to and
within the Park, nor that a major program of restoration and face-lifting was underway. Sometime in the past year
or two it has crossed a boundary from dreary old army base to vibrant semi-urban community. Thus far
they have not permitted private development (most of the structures were inherited from the Army base), and the commercial enterprises are still low-key. Let's hope
that continues. But I consider it already one of the great undiscovered marvels of San Francisco, and fear it won't be long before it's overrun with visitors. So let's try to keep it a secret.
Determined to explore the Park before it gets crowded, I decided my first adventure had to be a hike
along Baker Beach and the cliffs north of it, ending at the toll plaza of the Golden Gate Bridge.
I started at my home in Concord, 30 miles inland from San Francisco.
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