Sutro Forest
~1–2 mi, ~1 hr, Easy, West Ridge Trail, Historic Trail
I know, it’s been a while, but my external hard drive with all of my curated content crashed last week and I wasn’t able to recover any of it. I also work full time so obviously don’t have a ton of time to travel, so losing everything I had created was quite the setback. But here’s to backing things up and starting over!
How to get there: There are several starting points/parking areas. We entered from the West Ridge Trail, on Crestmont Drive. The trailhead is across from 482 Crestmont Drive, we parked a little ways down.
From there you hike up West Ridge Trail, and soon you cross Historic trail, take you either left or right. We decided to continue up straight. Basically we just followed trails aimlessly, eventually ending up on Historic trail until we took West Ridge Trail back.
We went on Black Friday for REI’s #optoutisde, and just wanted to get outside for the day. Honestly you should just wander all over the forest, there are so many trees an view of surrounding San Francisco from between trees. There is a view from the Golden Gate Bridge along the Historic trail if you take the left side of the fork.
I would highly recommend coming when it is cloudy, which is quite often in SF. We fortunately and unfortunately went on a sunny day, so didn’t get to experience the mysticalness of a cloudy Sutro Forest, but nonetheless it was a great walk amongst a lush eucalyptus forest in the middle of such an urban city.
I would recommend wearing shoes that you don’t mind getting muddy because it is so damp in the forest. Also dress warm because it tends to be cool under the trees, shielded from the sun.
Sutro Baths
15–20 min Drive From The Sutro Forest
Just 5 mi away are the Sutro Baths, a recently popularized destination at Land’s End. It’s a national park that used to be a privately owned public saltwater swimming pool that were open from 1896–1960.
Cross the Golden Gate Bridge for an iconic view on Mt. Tamalpais! Drive a few hours north and visit McArthur Burney Falls, what some people call the eighth world wonder.
