Crissy
Field,
GGNRA/National Park Service,
San Francisco County
Getting there:
(Finding your way through the Presidio can be a challenge even for long time SF
residents. Pay attention, or you'll end up on the other side of the Golden Gate
Bridge.)
• From San Francisco, drive west on Marina Boulevard. At the intersection
with Lyon Street, where Doyle Drive diverges left to the Golden Gate Bridge, continue
straight onto Mason. Look for the East Beach entrance on the right.
• From Marin, drive south across the Golden Gate Bridge, and use the Lombard
Street entrance to the Presidio. Turn right onto Lincoln, turn right again at
Halleck, and continue straight to Mason. Turn right and look for the East Beach
entrance on the left.
Trailhead details:
No parking or entrance fees. Parking in large lots that fill up quickly. There
is overflow parking under the Golden Gate Bridge approach; look for signs near
Halleck. Muni buses 28, 29, and 43 serve the area. Restrooms, pay phones, and
drinking water near the parking lot and at Crissy Field Center; there are portable
toilets in a few locations as well. There are designated handicapped parking spaces,
wheelchair accessible restrooms, and trails are perfectly suited to wheelchairs.
Gas, food, and lodging:
Crissy Field Center has a small cafe with sandwiches and coffee, and the Warming
Hut, opening in July, will serve food as well. Gas, stores, and more restaurant
options on Lombard Street. No camping.
Rules:
Trails are open to walkers and cyclists (I didn't see any rules posted regarding
equestrians, who are unlikely). Dogs permitted, although some areas are closed
to them.
Distance, difficulty, and category:
This 3.3 mile out and back walk is easy.
The Official Story:
Crissy Field Center 415-561-7690
GGNRA 415-556-0560
Fort Point 415-566-1693
Map Choices:
Map from
GGNRA (download Crissy Field pdf)
Map
from Bay Trail
• View photos from the featured
walk.
The restoration of Crissy Field seems 
nothing
short of miraculous. Newcomers to this shoreline just east of the Golden Gate
will no doubt be impressed by the beautiful natural setting. Those of us who remember
what Crissy Field used to look like, and visited during the transition,
are aware that the new Crissy Field took years to create. Crissy Field had been
abused for years. The dunes and marsh of Indian days were leveled and filled (with
garbage) so San Francisco could host the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition.
Later, Crissy Field hosted military aircraft. In 1998 restoration began. Volunteers
removed exotic vegetation and planted natives. Barren strips of pavement were
removed and a lagoon and tidal marsh were constructed. Now water sparkles in the
marsh, and shorebirds dig through the mud while pelicans fly over the waves. Dunes,
supplemented with native plants, are showcases for lupine, buckwheat, and sand
verbena blossoms. Some friends recently saw a whale spouting off the shore. All
this in the shadow of the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco Bay.
Crissy Field is a great place
to take out-of-town guests. If you're playing tour guide to older or inactive
folks, the flat grade (hospitable to wheelchairs) is a benign anomaly in our city-of-the-hills.
Energetic outdoor types who like to walk or hike can be entertained with a stroll
down Golden Gate Promenade, followed by a jaunt across the Golden Gate Bridge.
If you really want a walk to remember, keep going once you hit terra firma in
Marin, downhill to lunch on the water in Sausalito, then either walk or take a
bus back into the city. Or pick up a trail into the Headlands, and view Crissy
Field and the San Francisco skyline from there.
Start walking west on Golden Gate Promenade. A
low wall separates the wide paved trail from the loose sand of the beach, where
dogs of all shapes and sizes can be seen romping through the gentle waves. At
the edge of the parking lot, the trail splits at a signed junction. To the left
a bridge crosses the marsh on the way to Mason Street and Crissy Field Center.
Stay straight, toward Fort Point.
Along the marsh,
fences guard young native plants, including beach strawberry, goldenrod, sticky
monkeyflower, yarrow, and tansy. A bridge passes over the marsh's connection to
the bay, creating a lagoon where you might see common shorebirds. The dunes to
the north are dotted with pink sand verbena, beach primrose, and bush lupine.
Long after most spring wildflowers have faded, yellow, pink, and purple flowers
provide a dramatic counterpoint to the unobstructed views of the Golden Gate Bridge,
Angel Island, and the Marin Headlands. Interpretive signs explain how the marsh
works, and the history of Crissy Field; you'll find more interpretive signs along
the promenade and on the other side of the marsh. At 0.5 mile, the promenade passes
the "new" Crissy Field, a big improvement over the previous fenced pavement.
Lush grass carpets the field, which has a few paved paths. The Marine Sanctuary
Visitor Center sits off the trail to the right. After crossing an access road,
the promenade heads through another beautifully restored area, with picnic tables
on the left. Warming Hut, scheduled to open before July 2001, is situated across
from a fishing pier. 
When
it's open, you will be able to stop here for a bite at the cafe, and then browse
the bookstore. For now, continue past the hut and pier. Golden Gate Promenade
ends at Marine Drive. A signed trail to the Golden Gate Bridge is across the road;
this is an optional extension to your walk. Turn right.
From here walkers must share the road with cars.
Waves crash against rocks to the right, while the serpentine soil of the cliffs
to the left sustains a bevy of native plants. You might see seep monkeyflower,
lizardtail, beeplant, willow, cow parsnip, and curly dock. At 1.6 miles, the road
ends at Fort Point. You might recognize this magnificent view of the Golden Gate
Bridge from a scene in Hitchcock's Vertigo. Fences obstruct further exploration;
retrace your steps back to the eastern edge of the grassy lawn (AKA Historic
Airfield).
You can return on the promenade, but you'll miss
the different perspective offered on the south side of the marsh. Turn right
and walk on the paved path to Mason Street. Turn left and walk on the paved
bike and people path (this area was a bit torn up in June 2001, but still
navigable). If you'd like to visit Crissy Field Center, cross Mason at Halleck,
otherwise, bear left onto the paved path that sweeps north and east through the
marsh. There are more fledgling plants along the water. You might see California
coffeeberry, pickleweed, cordgrass, and paintbrush. Once you've crosses the bridge,
bear left and return to the promenade, then turn right and make your way back
to the parking lot.
Total distance: 3.3 miles
Last visit: Friday, June 15, 2001
Go to Bay Area Hiker Home page
nothing
short of miraculous. Newcomers to this shoreline just east of the Golden Gate
will no doubt be impressed by the beautiful natural setting. Those of us who remember
what Crissy Field used to look like, and visited during the transition,
are aware that the new Crissy Field took years to create. Crissy Field had been
abused for years. The dunes and marsh of Indian days were leveled and filled (with
garbage) so San Francisco could host the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition.
Later, Crissy Field hosted military aircraft. In 1998 restoration began. Volunteers
removed exotic vegetation and planted natives. Barren strips of pavement were
removed and a lagoon and tidal marsh were constructed. Now water sparkles in the
marsh, and shorebirds dig through the mud while pelicans fly over the waves. Dunes,
supplemented with native plants, are showcases for lupine, buckwheat, and sand
verbena blossoms. Some friends recently saw a whale spouting off the shore. All
this in the shadow of the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco Bay.
to take out-of-town guests. If you're playing tour guide to older or inactive
folks, the flat grade (hospitable to wheelchairs) is a benign anomaly in our city-of-the-hills.
Energetic outdoor types who like to walk or hike can be entertained with a stroll
down Golden Gate Promenade, followed by a jaunt across the Golden Gate Bridge.
If you really want a walk to remember, keep going once you hit terra firma in
Marin, downhill to lunch on the water in Sausalito, then either walk or take a
bus back into the city. Or pick up a trail into the Headlands, and view Crissy
Field and the San Francisco skyline from there.
fences guard young native plants, including beach strawberry, goldenrod, sticky
monkeyflower, yarrow, and tansy. A bridge passes over the marsh's connection to
the bay, creating a lagoon where you might see common shorebirds. The dunes to
the north are dotted with pink sand verbena, beach primrose, and bush lupine.
Long after most spring wildflowers have faded, yellow, pink, and purple flowers
provide a dramatic counterpoint to the unobstructed views of the Golden Gate Bridge,
Angel Island, and the Marin Headlands. Interpretive signs explain how the marsh
works, and the history of Crissy Field; you'll find more interpretive signs along
the promenade and on the other side of the marsh. At 0.5 mile, the promenade passes
the "new" Crissy Field, a big improvement over the previous fenced pavement.
Lush grass carpets the field, which has a few paved paths. The Marine Sanctuary
Visitor Center sits off the trail to the right. After crossing an access road,
the promenade heads through another beautifully restored area, with picnic tables
on the left. Warming Hut, scheduled to open before July 2001, is situated across
from a fishing pier. 
When
it's open, you will be able to stop here for a bite at the cafe, and then browse
the bookstore. For now, continue past the hut and pier. Golden Gate Promenade
ends at Marine Drive. A signed trail to the Golden Gate Bridge is across the road;
this is an optional extension to your walk. Turn right.