Exploring Marin Headland from Sausalito to San Francisco
Hiking Sequoia National Park : the Lakes trail
15 July 2016
3 days in Joshua Tree for beginner Backpackers
23 August 2016Hikes in San Francisco series.
This day hike/adventure allows you to board the ferry from the San Francisco Ferry Building to Sausalito and hike all the way up to Marin headlands and back to the city via the SCA trail and Golden Gate Bridge. Overall it’s about a 5-6 mile hike.
"It’s always great to be able to leave the city for the outdoors by using the public transportation - and that much better when the transportation includes a quick cruise"
Access
By Ferry : Take the ferry from the Ferry building of San Francisco. The Ferry to Sausalito costs $11.50 and there are multiple departing/returning ferry trips, just be sure to check the times so you can plan your day accordingly.
Alternative way, by bus : Take the Bus 70 from Mission and 5th until Spenser Avenue Bus Pad. You will arrive directly at the "morning Sun" Trailhead
MAP
Trail Routes :
When you get to Sausalito, walk South along the water. Tip: there are lots of little spots in Sausalito to grab a sandwich or snack for lunch before heading off for your hike. Turn Right and take the stairs on North Street at the corner with Tiffany Park (the park is super small). Continue strait and hike up the Cable Roadway. Eventually you will reach the the highway and turn right when you get to the Spencer Avenue Bus Pad.
*If you don’t want to take the ferry and avoid this pretty steep part of the hike, you can also take the bus line 70. The bus stops at the morning sun Trailhead.
The Spenser avenue bus pad is actually the Trailhead of the « Morning Sun Trail » which will give you access to almost all the trails of the Marin Headlands. There is a map of all the trails you can choose from here. Depending on how much time you have you can choose from a series of shorter hikes to longer day hikes. Since we were racing the sun to get to the Golden Gate Bridge intime for the sunset, we opted for a shorter trek that lead us directly down to the Golden Gate Bridge :
Morning Sun Trail (0.5 mi), left on the Valley trail (0.3 mi), left on SCA to Coastal Trail, and finally crossing of the Golden Gate Bridge.
