Photo Recap of the Father's Day Group Hike at Fort Funston

The group of us--some regulars to these Hill Babies group hikes, others new--met up on the cliffs above Fort Funston in San Francisco, June 15, 2014.  

We took the Step Ladder Trail to Ocean Beach, passing under hang gliders and faint clouds, and picnicked on the sand. Some left after playing and eating, but a group of us continued on to complete the Low Tide Loop. 

The water licked at our heels, the tide coming in, kids screeching with happiness, giddy at the constant motion of water and wind. Dogs leapt through the surf, chasing birds and balls. Babies laughed, kids clambered up sand slopes, and parents just enjoyed being outside on one great day with no real agenda but wandering around. 

A great place for a hike

Kids on the scree slope

Bare footin it

Sea foam on Ocean Beach

Two dads

Two more dads

Waving arms, walking big 

The excitement of escaping the oncoming tide

The noble dog

Nature slide

Good people, all 

Father's Day Hike and Picnic on the Beach Below Fort Funston --- June 15, 2014

With only days to spare, one can't expect a big turn-out, but Sunday sure will be a good day for a walk from Fort Funston to the beach below.

This hike is open to all, but especially meant for folks with kids. It's Father's Day, which is great, but also TOTALLY welcome are grandparents, uncles, aunts, friends, single parents, same-sex parents, anybody!


The Details

The stairs going down to beach

• June 15, 2014
• Meet at 10:30ish in the main parking lot, near the beach lookout beside the hang-glider area, located in the westernmost end of the parking lot.  We will walk at 11. 
• The whole hike will probably be two hours long, but come and go as you please! :-)
• This is not stroller friendly, sorry! The steps and the beach make bringing a stroller impossible. You will need to carry babies and your bags. Both my husband and I will be carrying a baby, and a bag. If we all go slow, it's fun! Keep in mind that it is manageable for a 3 or 4 year old. 
• Fort Funston is off-leash dog territory. I've never had a problem there, and don't anticipate a problem. Then again, I keep my kid close and don't encourage petting unknown dogs on walks anyways. 
• Regarding your dog, if you got one---please think of the group. Some dogs get kind of intense, and that's not fun for little kids and other parents to be around. Fort Funston is full of dogs, and nobody is boss of you, but if you bring your dog, I hope he/she is absolutely friendly. If you have a dog that usually starts barking, yipping, straining at the leash, etc, please reconsider taking it on a group hike.  Thanks! 

The Hike

• We will do part of the Low Tide Loop Hike. We will probably start in a southern direction, down the Step Ladder Trail leading down to the beach. It's utterly beautiful--amazing views and landscape. You can, if you want, just choose to walk down the steps and play at the beach, then retrace your route back to your car. Or you can carry on, doing the whole loop, which is 2.5 miles. (Please note that there is a chance that my family might just do the Step Ladder Trail and hang out at the beach, not the entire Low Tide Loop).
• There is a port-o-potty and drinking water at the parking lot. 

We hope to see you on the hike, and look forward to it! 
--Jessica and Marshall, parents of Zoe, Calliope, and Genevieve


Directions
• Going southbound on CA 35 in San Francisco, pass John Muir Drive, take the first right (signed Fort Funston). Stay right and go on to the parking lot.
• Going northbound on CA 35, make a U-turn at John Muir Drive. Proceed southbound and take the first right (signed Fort Funston). Stay right and go on to the parking lot.

Please see an earlier Hill Babies post about Fort Funston: http://hillbabiessf.blogspot.com/2010/07/fort-funston-hike-around-battery-davis.html

View Fort Funston in a larger map

10 Great Hikes Throughout San Francisco

I just wrote an article about ten places to hike in the City, covering one hike in each of the ten main districts. The compilation was a challenge, as there are so many places I like to explore, and there wasn't enough room to include even half of them. (Perhaps there should be a part two?) For ideas about where to wander with little ones in San Francisco, from Land's End to Telegraph Hill, from Alamo Square to the Visitacion Valley Greenway, please check out the link below to OnlyInBayArea.com.

Cheers,
Jess

http://www.onlyinbayarea.com/Article/Details/Best-places-to-hike-in-san-francisco-with-kids 

Grandview Park, aka Turtle Hill, of SF

Fort Funston: a hike around Battery Davis and onto Ocean Beach

 A month ago or so, we explored Fort Funston in the southwestern corner of San Francisco. It seems it had been years since I visited, and now that I'm reacquainted, I think it's an awesome place to walk in the City. There are so many interesting things to see for adults and kids—WWII barracks, hidden trails behind the bunkers, an area where hang gliders scoot off into the misty blue, and the expansive, slate-grey Pacific Ocean pounding onto Ocean Beach, littered with weird naturalia.

THE BABY FRIENDLY BITS

There are two main hikes, one paved and easy (three-quarters of a mile long), the other suited for babies in slings or children, up and down from the cliffs and forts, and along the Ocean Beach (two and a half miles roundtrip).

There is a drinking fountain on the trail, and very thoughtfully, a spigot and a water dish for dogs.

There might be a port-o-potty somewhere for humans, but I didn’t see one.

THE HIKES

The Sunset Trail (0.75 of a mile) is paved and slightly changes in elevation, but is under trees and in the sun, next to the old bunker of Battery Davis, and is a place where dogs can leap and run around off leash. There are some very cool trails around the thickets behind Battery Davis, but some of the pathways lead right off the high cliff (don’t let your kids or dog gallop down the trails).

The Low Tide Loop Hike (2.5 miles roundtrip) is started on either end of the Sunset Trail. Look for wide, sandy pathways to the beach, the one in the north more sandy and eroded, the other in the south steeper, with steps, and a landscape of bright green ice plant and winding, sandy path down a very cool cliff face. Walk along the beach in a big loop, keeping an eye out for the sea flotsam, huge jellyfish, scads of lady bugs, sand lice. An endangered bird, the Bank Swallow, nests in the cliff faces.

I recommend doing the whole loop of bunkers and beach. 

HISTORY AND WHATNOT

Battery Davis is essentially an artificial hill built into the seaside cliffs above Ocean Beach. It’s an old heavy-caliber gun battery, built just before the Second World War, housing thirty-five soldiers in over twenty-five rooms who manned the big guns and watched the sea (no attack ever hit the west coast), and probably had a drink or two over a long game of cards. (According to an explanatory plaque, when the guns discharged, they damaged neighborhood civilian homes.)

KID ACTIVITIES

If you’re going with a child, consider making a treasure hunt list for things to find, but not keep. If they can’t read, you can draw pictures. Things in the vicinity include round stones, ladybugs, jellyfish, sand dollars, yellow or purple ice plant flowers, driftwood, black, grey, or yellow sand, pieces of plastic.

Another idea is to be a Super Trash Collector! Bring along a container or bag for collecting little pieces of plastic off the beach. Teach the kids about the horrendous plastic gyre in the Pacific, and do our part to pick up little bits of plastic that might otherwise end up in the gyre.

RELATED HIKES

Click here for an article about hiking around Lake Merced (across the road from Fort Funston), as well as some other articles I have on Examiner.com. 

MAP AND DIRECTIONS

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