Baker Beach

My final stop on my Highway 1 trip was Baker Beach, a place I’ve never been to despite living only an hour away! Stretching a mile below the rugged cliffs on the Presidio’s western shoreline, Baker Beach’s spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands are unsurpassed. I enjoyed walking along the beach on this beautiful sunny day and let the water crash over my feet.

The views really are amazing so I’m not sure why it took me so long to visit this place. But for some reason, driving to San Francisco always seems so tedious to me, especially with Bay Area traffic. But now that I’ve been here, I know I’ll come back to enjoy it again.

For those of you that appreciate history, Baker Beach is part of the 160 acres (65 ha) property that was settled by John Henry Baker in the 1850s and was known as Golden Gate Milk Ranch back then. Sadly, his widow Maria lost the property to foreclosure in 1879 after his death in 1863.

From 1986 to 1990, the north end of Baker Beach was the original site of the Burning Man art festival. In 1990, park police allowed participants to raise the traditional large statue but not to set it on fire, since the beach enforces a limit on the size of any campfires. Subsequently, Burning Man events have taken place in Black Rock Desert, Nevada.

The northern section of Baker Beach is "frequented by clothing-optional sunbathers," and as such it is considered a nude beach. So keep that mind if you’re planning to visit!

Check out more pics on my Instagram!

Golden Gate Bridge & Battery Spencer

The Marin Headlands is a hilly peninsula located just north of San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge. The entire area is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and is famous for the views of the Bay Area, especially of the Golden Gate Bridge. Even though I don’t live far from there, I haven’t been to this area since I was a child, so I decided to check out the headland and get some of those fabulous shots of the bridge, especially since the weather was perfect.

The Marin Headlands is also the site of a number of historic military settlements fortifications, including Battery Spencer, which back in the early 1900s was one of the main protection points for the San Francisco Bay. It featured multiple 12″ guns that were operated by the military and a few buildings for housing the generators and shells. Today it’s just a piece of history that you can walk around and enjoy, as well as capture those iconic photos of the Golden Gate Bridge, the San Francisco skyline, the Bay Bridge, Alcatraz, Farallon Islands, Angel Island, and the East Bay.

The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the one-mile-wide (1.6 km) strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The bridge is one of the most internationally recognized symbols of San Francisco and California and was initially designed by engineer Joseph Strauss in 1917. It has been declared one of the Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The Frommer's travel guide describes it as "possibly the most beautiful, certainly the most photographed, bridge in the world." At the time of its opening in 1937, it was both the longest and the tallest suspension bridge in the world, with a main span of 4,200 feet (1,280m) and a total height of 746 feet (227m).

See more of the incredible photos I took in my Instagram post!