StuDudley-Golden Gate Bridge from the north
 

Hi StuDudley, (and other locals!)

I read with interest your advice to someone going north out of San Fran. Could you reverse those directions, pretty pleaaaase?

We'll be coming down HWY 1 on a Thursday late afternoon/early evening and would love to see those views of the GG bridge and city you mentioned.

Do those parks/rec areas close at a certain time?

Thanks!!

I just posted a reply to your other message. Now, I'm confused. Are you coming into SF on Wednesday or Thursday? Not that it makes much difference in seeing the sights but I don't want you to miss your flight.

Just before you reach the Golden Gate Bridge, take the last (Sausalito) exit and drive up to the overlooks in the Marin Headlands. This is to the west of the freeway.

If you continue up to the top, you can drop down on the other side via a steep one-way road that has some of the best views anywhere of the Golden Gate and the Pacific. You can also drive down to a nice beach at Rodeo Lagoon. Make sure you arrive before sunset though.

Oops!! You are so right! We're coming into SF on a Wed afternoon/evening!

Thanks for the directions to the best views! That's what we want!

Of course you can do the drive in reverse. Actually, the views from the GGNRA are best in the afternoon when the sun is lighting up downtown.

I've been up there as late as 10pm. Not sure they ever close.

Stu Dudley

I just realized that you were requesting a description of the route in reverse. My suggestion is that you get a regional map & a magic market & plot it out. The only tricky part is accessing the "view" area in the GGNRA - which Otis accurately described.

Stu Dudley

Looking at my San Fran map, I don't see anything called "Marin Headlands." Will there be signs?

I do see a one way road (Barry-Baker tunnel?) that says traffic alternates every 5 minutes. Is that the one way?

I'm going to go find that post with the directions coming from the south and see if I can make heads or tails of those.

Anything more specific would be great!

Thanks!

Plese don't look at the original NORTHBOUND instructions. They will only confuse you.

As you are heading SOUTHBOUND on Highway 101, take the last exit,

SAUSALITO exit,

At the stop sign, turn LEFT. (You'll be on Sausalito Lateral Road).

Stay in the RIGHT lane and the road will go to the right and uphill. You will at this point be on CONZELMAN ROAD.

Just as the road starts going uphill you will see the sign "Marin Headlands".

Do NOT get in the left lane as that lane will take you back onto the Golden Gate Bridge.

At the top of the hill (about 100 yards), you will see cars parked there on the dirt. Try and find a spot to park and then follow the foot traffic up to the top of the battlements for one of the best views of the entire Bay Area.

You could continue on Conzelman Road to other viewpoints.

Or you could return down the hill and at the bottom of the hill, turn right at the stop sign and you will be on your way into San Francisco by going across the Golden Gate Bridge.

In your original post you said you will be coming down Highway 1 - that's a totally DIFFERENT road.

Will you be driving on 101 or Highway 1?

easytraveler,

those directions are terrific! We will be coming down HWY 1, though, unless someone recommends it'd be better to cross over to HWY 101 at some point.

I'd REALLLLLY appreciate the directions for HWY 1, too.

You guys are sooo great. Really.

Yes, Conzelman Road is the one you wnat. It's really quite simple if you just keep heading up the hill until the top. Then it becomes a one way road down the other side. The road through the tunnel is the way you will want to exit.

Here's a helpful map:

http://justinsomnia.org/gallery/v/go...geViewsIndex=1

Hwy 1 joins 101 just the other side (north) of Sausalito. So, directions to the viewpoints are off of Hwy 101.

And just remember, Hwy 1 is a slow road and driving down all the way from Fort Bragg to Mill Valley/Sausalito is a very long drive. I would not want to do it in one day because I would not have enough time to stop and see all the sights. I would cut over on Hwy 128 or at the Russian River (Hwy 116) or at Petaluma.

thanks, Otis!

Just printed out the map in two, full page pieces. Thanks so much for the link!!

So it sounds like easytraveler's directions to "the view" are right on, whether we're coming from HWY 1 or HWY 101, since they merge right before Sausalito.

What a team you locals make!
thanks again!!

After living in the Bay Area for almost 27 years, I just wanted to share something I discovered last week, I believe it's one of the best kept secrets about the GG Bridge sightseeing.

Follow easytraveler's directions, instead of 100 yards up the hill, at 50 yards turn left into a similar dirt lot. At the corner closest to the bridge, you will see a small metal gate looking down to some wooden steps. If you are not queasy about the pounding of hundreds of cars overhead, the steps leads to a walkway under the bridge to the famed vista point where all the tour buses comin from SF park. After you take all the pix you desire, trace your steps back under the bridge to your car. A young,handsome biker showed 2 old ladies (my DS and me) and accompanied us on the path.

Sweet ET -- perhaps you can re-post my response under it's own heading? Can't wait to see you next week!

Just got back from California and wanted to add something to Easytravelers wonderful directions. If coming from Muir Woods, do not take the first Sausalito exit, take the second just before the bridge. We took this first exit and Easytravelers directions seemed right on until we looked at street signs. Thanks to a computer with internet access and Google, I was able to figure out what we had done. If you end up on Bridgeway Rd., just stay on it through Sausalito and it will change to Saulsalito Lateral Rd. Thanks for posting the question 4sharie and everyone's responses.

seashell, thanks for writing! We just got back a week or so ago. Seems we weren't the only ones confused! I thought we were right on track too, but there were a few "uphills" (easytraveler's directions), but no "marin headlands" sign. And yep, we were on Bridgeway.

So there must be 2 Sausalito exits? I guess it would be hard to know which would be the last unless you were familiar with the area.

Paranoid we would be going over the bridge by mistake, we turned right just about every place we could! Finally turned into a oneway tunnel that took us into Marin Headlands and we thought we were back on track but could never find any spectacular views via a dirt lot.

I studied the map I had printed, thanks to Otis, and saw we could cut over to Conzelman road. Once we did that, it was like AH-HA!

We enjoyed the view immensely, but due to being "lost" for a while, we didn't have time to try to find Shanghainese's other spot.

It was a beautiful evening, and the bridge was lit up by the sun. Very pretty!

And Otis, you were sooo right about the long drive from Fort Bragg to Sausalito down HWY 1! We had been driving down the coast for a few days from Coos Bay, Oregon, and we thought this "little" stretch wouldn't be any worse than all the other stretches we had done. BUT, once we realized HOW slow going this particular stretch was, and that we didn't need to see every mile of coast, and we were ready to cut over, it was too late. We did finally cut over at Petaluma, but not sure how much that saved us.

My head is starting to swim just thinking about all those twists and turns! It was beautiful, just got us into Sausalito later than we had hoped.

Thanks to all for your help and guidance! We never could have found the GGNRA view without you! We totally missed it 2 years ago.