I'm on a mission to #hikeallofsf. These are the stories of my hikes.
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Hike Name: Juan Bautista de Anza Trail
Hike Name: Juan Bautista de Anza Trail
Distance: 12 miles!
Elevation: negligible
Difficulty: Difficult
Time: 5-8 hours
Dog Friendly: Yes, on leash
Hike Description
Since most people have a day off on Labor Day, I decided to take advantage of that to assemble some friends and tackle one of San Francisco's longest hikes, the Juan Bautista de Anza Trail. While the trail is 1,200 miles long in total, it covers 12 miles in San Francisco. This route Marks where Lieutenant Colonel Juan Bautista de Anza led 245 men, women, and children on an journey to establish a settlement at San Francisco Bay between the years of 1775 and 1776. Some trail highlights include Mountain Lake, Immigrant Point, and Rob Hill Campground, the only overnight campground in mainland San Francisco. The red dotted line on this site shows you the entire route. If you can’t swing the whole thing (totally understandable!), I recommend that you do the the 2.7-mile/5.4-mile round trip section through the Presidio.
Route Details
Since de Anza was coming from Mexico, he completed his trek from south to north, but I recommend doing the opposite and starting your walk at the Golden Gate Bridge. You can start your walk by picking up the Batteries to Bluffs Trail from the Golden Gate Bridge parking lot. When you reach Dove Loop right after Batter Godfrey, head back to Lincoln Boulevard. Stay on Lincoln Boulevard until you reach Washington Boulevard, which you'll take to the aforementioned Rob Hill Campground. Feel free to explore the campground and then head back to Washington Boulevard. Follow Washington Boulevard South and then continue your route on Battery Caulfield Road. From here, you should start to see signs for the "Anza Trail." When we did the hike, there was a hike detour on Battery Caulfield Road, and we turned left onto a trail toward Mountain Lake just before the street turns into Wedemeyer Street. Follow the trail around Mountain Lake and see where the de Anza expedition camped while looking for a good place to found the Presidio. If you need a bathroom break by now, this is the perfect place to go.
After your tour of Mountain Lake, head toward Funston Avenue. You are now exiting the Presidio. If you opt for the 5.4-mile round trip route, this is where you can turn around.
To continue on, follow Funston Avenue until you reach Golden Gate Park. Then you can take JFK Drive to Transverse Drive to MLK Drive. There are paved trails throughout the park, but if you look parallel to these trails, you'll often find dirt trails you can take instead. After 25th Avenue, you can take a dirt trail that will take you southwest toward Lincoln Way. Walk along Lincoln (or on parallel dirt trails inside the park!) until you reach Sunset Boulevard.
Once you reach Sunset Boulevard, the hike become a little difficult. Not because the route is treacherous, but because - it was flat and straightm and loooong, and there wasn't much to look at. Luckily, I knew beautiful Lake Meced was coming.
When you reach Lake Merced Boulevard, take a right and head toward Skyline Boulevard to walk along the lake. You can take this path along the entire western side of the lake. At the lake's southernmost point, continue on to Lake Merced Boulevard and make a right onto John Daly Boulevard. You can take John Daly Boulevard to its intersection with Skyline Boulevard and your hike is done. Whew, that was a tough one. Congrats on a job well done.
Getting there |
| Trail to Mountain Lake from Battery Caulfield Road |
To continue on, follow Funston Avenue until you reach Golden Gate Park. Then you can take JFK Drive to Transverse Drive to MLK Drive. There are paved trails throughout the park, but if you look parallel to these trails, you'll often find dirt trails you can take instead. After 25th Avenue, you can take a dirt trail that will take you southwest toward Lincoln Way. Walk along Lincoln (or on parallel dirt trails inside the park!) until you reach Sunset Boulevard.
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| One of many dirt trails in Golden Gate Park |
Once you reach Sunset Boulevard, the hike become a little difficult. Not because the route is treacherous, but because - it was flat and straightm and loooong, and there wasn't much to look at. Luckily, I knew beautiful Lake Meced was coming.
When you reach Lake Merced Boulevard, take a right and head toward Skyline Boulevard to walk along the lake. You can take this path along the entire western side of the lake. At the lake's southernmost point, continue on to Lake Merced Boulevard and make a right onto John Daly Boulevard. You can take John Daly Boulevard to its intersection with Skyline Boulevard and your hike is done. Whew, that was a tough one. Congrats on a job well done.
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| Lake Merced after a loooong stretch on Sunset Boulevard |
- Public Transit: This page offers detailed information on the public transit options for getting to the Golden Gate Bridge.
- Parking: This page offers detailed information on parking options for the Golden Gate Bridge.
Juan Bautista de Anza History
Juan Bautista de Anza was born in Sonora, New Spain (Mexico) in 1736. He joined the army in 1752 and served on the northern frontier of Sonora. In 1772, de Anza asked the Viceroy of New Spain for permission to explore Alta California. A group of 3 priests, 20 soldiers, 11 servants, and a number of horses, mules, and cattle took off to explore Arizona and made it to Monterey, California two years later in 1774. On a second Mission, 245 people joined de Anza on a trip back north with the goal of reaching San Francisco. When group made it to Monterey, de Anza, Father Pedro Font, and a number of soldiers continued the trek north to the Bay Area. There, he located the site of Presidio of San Francisco and Mission San Francisco de Asis (now Mission Dolores).
Fun fact: If you take a look at the list of families who joined de Anza on his expedition, you can see many last names have been turned into San Francisco street names.
Juan Bautista de Anza was born in Sonora, New Spain (Mexico) in 1736. He joined the army in 1752 and served on the northern frontier of Sonora. In 1772, de Anza asked the Viceroy of New Spain for permission to explore Alta California. A group of 3 priests, 20 soldiers, 11 servants, and a number of horses, mules, and cattle took off to explore Arizona and made it to Monterey, California two years later in 1774. On a second Mission, 245 people joined de Anza on a trip back north with the goal of reaching San Francisco. When group made it to Monterey, de Anza, Father Pedro Font, and a number of soldiers continued the trek north to the Bay Area. There, he located the site of Presidio of San Francisco and Mission San Francisco de Asis (now Mission Dolores).
Fun fact: If you take a look at the list of families who joined de Anza on his expedition, you can see many last names have been turned into San Francisco street names.
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