On the western edge of San Francisco, 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometers) of undisturbed beachfront stretches down the coast, from Lands End and the Cliff House, past Golden Gate Park, and all the way down to Fort Funston. Right alongside the beach, the Great Highway is the two-lane road that extends from State Route 35 (known as Skyline Boulevard) before turning into Point Lobos Avenue as it curves past the Cliff House. Though there are few intersections on the expressway, there are frequent traffic lights stopping traffic for crosswalks across the Great Highway. The lights default to red, even when no pedestrian is there to cross, but locals know that driving exactly 35 miles per hour will let you drive right through, each light switching to green just before you arrive.
Driving up the coast, I left behind the bright, warm summer day in the rest of the Bay Area and entered gloomy winter, the sunshine replaced by strong gusts of wind and dense, low fog that sprinkled my windshield. The forecast called for the morning fog to burn off and temperature to rise to 70 degrees Fahrenheit, but it was already almost noon. Ocean Beach is usually several degrees cooler than even the rest of San Francisco.
Though it is still summer and tourists crowd the city’s main attractions, Ocean Beach remained, understandably, mostly deserted. That’s not surprising – San Francisco isn’t exactly known for its beaches and summer doesn’t typically offer the city’s best weather. Despite its soft sands and wide shoreline, Ocean Beach isn’t what many people think of when they imagine a California beach, and San Francisco doesn’t have the vibes of a beach town. Some visitors might not even realize, as they’re rushing around the city sightseeing, that this expansive beach is so close. The bayside coast of San Francisco is mostly built up with piers along the Embarcadero, while this coast is quite undeveloped in comparison.
The miles of oceanfront are largely unchanged – no buildings, no showers, no pier, limited restrooms, not even any shops. There’s just the sea wall, the sand, and the ocean. A row of houses with great ocean views line the road on the opposite side of the Great Highway, except where Golden Gate Park abuts the highway between Fulton Street and Lincoln Way. The two windmills are visible on the edge of the park, near the Beach Chalet Brewery and Restaurant. A few cafes and some surf shops are located not far from the beach, but there are none on it. Along the southern end of Ocean Beach is the San Francisco Zoo.
