Photo Credit: Aaron Logan, Lightmatter
Walk Across the Golden Gate Bridge
Fast Forward SummaryTM: One of the most popular destinations in the world is walking on the sidewalk of the Golden Gate Bridge. You can spend 20-30 minutes and walk out to one of the Bridge towers and back to your parked car. You can walk to the middle of the Bridge and back from the parking lots, covering about 1.5 miles (2.5 km), and walking all the way across and back is about 3 to 3.5 miles (5-6 km). This page has routes, parking and maps for walking the Bridge. Wheelchairs have easy access to the bridge sidewalk, and there are handicapped parking zones in each Bridge lot. Dogs can walk with you on the Bridge so long as they are on a leash and under your control. Skateboards, skates and roller blades are not allowed.
Spring-Summer-Autumn Pedestrian Hours (March 8, 2009 - October 31, 2009): 5:00 AM to 9:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time. Security gates open and close automatically. (Bike riders have 24 hour access on the west sidewalk, but have to ring a buzzer for security to admit them through each security gate.) Winter Pedestrian Hours (November 2, 2008 - March 7, 2009): 5:00 AM to 6:00 PM Pacific Standard Time. Security gates operate as described above.
Prefer to ride? You can also rent bikes in San Francisco and ride across the Bridge to Sausalito.
Preparing for the Fun
Be sure to bring a camera. Even an inexpensive one will get shots from the Bridge that look like they came from a screen saver or a postcard. We've started a walk, then looked at each other and groaned when we realized we'd forgotten the camera!
Shoes for Comfort, Not Fashion. The Bridge is a long, beautiful walk. If you plan to do more than climb out of the car to take pictures from the parking lots, go for comfort.
Bottled water is a welcome companion. Vista Point at the north and the San Francisco parking lot at the south have bathrooms with water fountains. A snack shop is located at the south parking lot.
Preparing for the Weather
When you walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, you're 220 feet above the surface of the Pacific Ocean, right in the middle of a narrow opening in the mountainous Coast Range, the only opening that leads to hundreds of square miles of valleys. That means that there usually will be wind, and often a lot of it.
Always assume that your walk will turn cold and windy, especially in summer. Bring layers of clothing you can comfortably add or remove based on the fast-changing temperatures and winds.
In summer??? Mark Twain is wrongly quoted as having said, "I never spent a winter as cold as last summer in San Francisco!" Twain quote or not, the Summer can produce some of the foggiest and coldest days on the Golden Gate Bridge as the wind races in from the ocean, especially in the afternoon.
The warmest months on the Bridge, on average? September and October, as the summer fog abates in autumn. But they're also the months in which we are most likely to get our first rains. So bring those layers!
Bring a hat and sunscreen. Even if it's cold and cloudy, being outdoors too long in Northern California can produce sunburns. Two of your OurSausalito.com editors speak from the experience of painful blisters as kids, back before we became your all-wise and all-knowing guides to Sausalito.
If you visit in the rain, the Bridge remains open and you can wear your rain suit and walk across, but be careful with your umbrella. Rainy days on the Bridge usually have enough wind to turn an umbrella into the shape of an oversized letter Y!
Getting to the Golden Gate Bridge
Check out the page we just happened to name Getting to the Golden Gate Bridge.
Parking at the Golden Gate Bridge
We have now created a dedicated page for this topic at Golden Gate Bridge Parking Lots.
Which Bridge Sidewalk do We Walk On?
The east side of the Golden gate Bridge faces San Francisco and the Bay. This is the sidewalk pedestrians always use. On weekdays bikes will also use this route before 3:30 PM.
The west side of the Golden Gate Bridge faces the ocean. On weekdays the west sidewalk is usually reserved for maintenance crews, and on weekends it is reserved for bike riders. The tunnels at either end of the Bridge give walkers and bike riders access to great spots for dramatic photos on both the eastern and western sides of both ends of the Bridge.
Distance: About 1.5 Miles (2.5 km) Time: Allow plenty of time to stop, take photos, enjoy the view. We think you need a minimum of an hour to enjoy the walk, though it can be done in 30 minutes.
Late morning or early afternoons are often the best time for these walks, because the fog is more likely to have burned off in the morning and less likely to have returned in the afternoon. The sun is also at a better angle for photos in the afternoon. You can start from any of the Golden Gate Bridge parking lots and go in either direction. Our parking lot pages have satellite photos and instructions on reaching the sidewalk. Starting from the southern end gives you access to a snack bar and gift shop at the start and end of your walk, but the spaces there are metered and take $1.00 (four quarters) per hour -- make sure to bring quarters for the meter. Spaces in the North lot are free, with a four hour time limit.
Distance: About 3 Miles (5 km) to go from one parking lot to the anchorage for the cables at the far end of the Bridge and then walk back. if you go all the way from parking lot to parking lot for the familiar postcard views it's about 3.5 miles for the round trip (just under 6 km). Time: Again, allow plenty of time to take photos, enjoy the views and the way the light changes on San Francisco as the sun moves overhead. If you start from the northern end of the Bridge, there is a snack shop at the southern end where you can stop for a treat mid-walk. We think you need a minimum of two hours to enjoy the walk, though it can be done in the range from an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes.
There are fabulous views everywhere on the Bridge, with vistas of San Francisco, Alcatraz, Angel Island, the Marin coast, Tiburon and the East Bay. At mid-span the gigantic cables come down to the level of the deck, allowing you to see just how thick they are. The South Tower (San Francisco side) has a plaque commemorating the engineers and politicians who managed the Bridge's construction. On the south end below the Bridge on a promontory is the old Fort Point, which is a National Historic Site. On the north end: below the Bridge is the pier from the old Fort Baker. Google Map Instructions: Use the "+" and "-" buttons to zoom in and out, the arrow keys to scroll the map, and the SAT button to see the satellite view.
The "glow" in the water below the Bridge is a photo distortion caused by Google Maps lightening that part of the image to show the Bridge. When you walk the Bridge you'll see the water remains the same dark blue beneath the span. Google Map Instructions: Use the "+" and "-" buttons to zoom in and out, the arrow keys to scroll the map, and the SAT button to see the satellite view.
BUT those are also the times when you're most likely to encounter fog if you're walking across the span. Fog is especially common in summer, and least pervasive in September and October. If you're beset by fog while walking the Bridge, one alternative to get some great photos is to drive up Conzelman Road in the Marin Headlands and take photos from the turnouts in the road. This is where some of the most famous picture postcards of San Francisco were photographed, and some afternoons you can get really dramatic Bridge-in-fog shots. Did we miss something important about walking across the Golden Gate Bridge? Use the comments box below to fill in the gaps for our readers!Walk 1: Bridge Parking Lot to Mid-Span
Walk 2: Walk Across the Golden Gate Bridge
Highlights of the Walk
Taking Photos on the Golden Gate Bridge
Photographers say that early morning and late afternoon are when you find "magic light," when sunlight passes laterally through the atmosphere and makes the colors glow. The San Francisco skyline gleams in the reflection from the setting sun many afternoons.
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