• View of the Golden Gate Bridge, taken from the Marin Headlands, looking across the bay back towards San Francisco, seen in the distance.

    Golden Gate

    National Recreation Area California

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  • Tunnel to Marin Headlands Closed

    The tunnel on Bunker Road from Alexander Avenue in Sausalito towards the Marin Headlands is closed for construction. Please follow the detour signs to Conzelman Road (just above the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge) to go up over the hill. More »

  • Muir Beach (but not nearby Muir Woods) parking lot closed June-November 2013

    Muir Beach parking lot will be closed from June-November 2013 due to construction. Restrooms or nearby parking will not be available at Muir Beach during this period. Pacific Way is closed except to residents. Check back for updates or call (415)561-3054 More »

  • CAUTION: Post Storm Damage to Coastal Trail

    The Presidio Coastal Trail segment just north of the Pacific Overlook and adjacent to Lincoln Blvd remains CLOSED indefinitely. We have posted signage to alert bicyclists and hikers and with information for safe trail alternatives. More »

San Francisco Parklands Image Gallery

Sutro Baths postcard
Sutro Baths and Cliff House postcard
Golden Gate NRA, Park Archives, Sutro District Collection, GOGA-3369
 

San Francisco Parklands encompass the NPS-controlled areas scattered across the San Francisco peninsula and wrapping around the coast, outside the Presidio. In this gallery, explore images from Fort Funston (including Battery Davis and Nike missile site SF-59), Fort Miley (including the VA hospital, Point Lobos, and Battery Chester), Fort Mason and the Port of Embarkation (including Point San Jose), Lands End (including the Coast Guard life saving station), Ocean Beach, Sutro Baths, Sutro Heights, and the Cliff House.

Images within these albums may be used for any legitimate non-commercial public or press use with proper credit given to the National Park Service. If you have any questions or additional information on these images, please contact the Park Archives and Records Center's reference archivist at 415-561-2807 or e-mail us.

 
  • Adolph Sutro inaugurated electric streetcar operations to the Cliff House in 1896, the same year he opened his grandiose new ‘French chateau’ Cliff House and the expansive Sutro Baths. Built as an alternative to the Ferries & Cliff House steam train that wound its way around Land’s End, the “Sutro Rail Road Company” electric cars offered inexpensive transportation direct to the new Baths. Passengers got off the Sutro streetcars in a covered depot (adjacent to today’s Louis’ Restaurant), where a covered walkway led directly to the Baths’ main entrance. In an era when horse cars and steam-powered locomotives still plied the streets of San Francisco, the Sutro Railroad’s silent, clean electric cars were truly state-of-the-art. As an incentive to riders, Sutro offered transfers ensuring a 5¢ fare from anywhere in the San Francisco. (The rival steam line was operated by the widely-hated Southern Pacific Railroad and didn’t respect transfers, a policy which resulted in a 10¢ fare for their riders.)
    SF Parklands - Cliff House
    25 Photos
  • Distant view of baby sitting on large gun at Fort Funston, 1947.
    SF Parklands - Fort Funston
    17 Photos
  • Veterans Administration Hospital postcard, Fort Miley.
    SF Parklands - Fort Miley
    4 Photos
  • “From Cliff House looking north, October 25, 1890.” Future site of Sutro Baths with Lands End in the distance.
    SF Parklands - Lands End
    3 Photos
  • Volunteers for the California Coastal Cleanup, joining the free yoga on the beach.
    SF Parklands - Ocean Beach
    13 Photos
  • Adolph Sutro conceived of his baths as a ‘palace for the people’ where patrons could bathe in heated swimming tanks, examine specimens in his self-styled museum, or simply promenade along spacious walkways overlooking the pools. The vast building completely filled a pocket beach north of the Cliff House formerly known as Niaid Cove, and was built on several levels descending from street level down to the water. This view shows the Baths around the time of their grand opening in 1897. Note the construction debris still on the ground at right. Sutro originally envisioned a winding driveway leading down to a dome-covered entrance (center left) that would serve as a grand entry way for upper-crust patrons arriving by carriage. By contrast, pedestrians arriving by public transportation would enter at a “Greek Temple” building located on Point Lobos Blvd. Like many of Sutro’s plans for the Baths, though, the carriage turnaround was never constructed. Instead, the Greek Temple (visible at upper left) became the single entrance for all people arriving at the Baths.
    SF Parklands - Sutro Baths
    26 Photos
  • Hundreds of thousands of service men came home from the Pacific on huge military transport ships. Once they landed at Fort Mason, they were escorted to the Staging Area, where they were fed an American meal, their papers were processed and they were reunited with their families.
    SF Parklands - Fort Mason
    56 Photos
  • The conservatory was an elaborate greenhouse structure built to house Sutro's collection of climate-sensitive tropical plants. Centrally located on an elevated mound east of the terminus of Palm Avenue, the structure was cruciform in plan, with a central ventilation tower. Built entirely of small glass panels mounted in wood frames, this ornate garden structure was supported by internal wood framing. The interior, which held a lush variety of palms, ferns, tropical flowers, and statuary, provided visitors with an impressive botanical display.
    SF Parklands - Sutro Heights
    17 Photos

Did You Know?

Fossils clams from Alcatraz Island

Megafossils (fossils that can be observed with the unaided eye) are rare in Franciscan Complex rocks, but the rocks of “The Rock,” Alcatraz, have yielded significant examples.