SummitOutdoorsGear.com

Guest Author Lynny Young

On a recent whirl wind trip through San Francisco, we stopped off at Fort Funston on Skyline Boulevard, hoping to find hang gliders leaping off the 200 foot cliff and sailing on the up draft of the wind.

According to the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy website, Fort Funston is classified as a Level III jump or intermediate level. Prime seasons are March through September. Hang glides float peacefully down the coast over Ocean Beach and climb back to the cliffs to sail onward again.

The day we visited it was a cool 45 degrees and the sky was misting. We caught one hang glider soaring while several others were waiting out the weather and taking refuge from the crisp ocean winds.

I have memories of visiting Fort Funston on mornings when the fog bank was thick, and you would see the sky above you break open with color as a vinyl bird soared over, the pilot softly shouting, “Coming through.”

On a sunny day, bring a pic nic and enjoy the scenery while watching the hang gliders. Take the stairs for a steep hike down to Ocean Beach below or walk on the paths that lead through the natural landscape of the park. Fort Funston is one of a few parks in San Francisco where dogs may roam off leash. This makes the park a favorite of locals who wisely dress in light layers to match the coastal temperatures.

In the above photo shared by Viriditas on the Fort Funston page on Wikepedia, a large metal fox hole juts out of the deck behind tourists. During War II, the fox holes were maintained by soldiers at various sites on the bluff. Each cramped and cold shelter had small metal bunks that hung from the wall, and included seating and a tiny area for cooking. The soldiers would triangulate locations of ships off the shore as a means to track whether enemy naval vessels were within firing distance of San Francisco. The coastal batteries were abandoned in 1963 and acquired by the National Parks Service.