CA USA Travel | San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco is an engineering marvel, a beautiful man-made structure, and a commute lifeline. Visit on a decent day and you're guaranteed to see crowds of tourists, joggers, cars, ships, and scenery galore. Check out the pictures on my Panorama page, too!

$At the southeastern area of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge there's a small park, a visitor's center, and a sample cross-section of cable for you to climb on. Here's what the sign says:\n\nGolden Gate Bridge - Main Span 4200 Feet\nLength of one cable = 7650 ft (2331.7m)\nDiameter of one cable = 36.375 in (92.4cm)\nWires in each cable = 27,572\nTotal wire used = 80,000 miles (128.748km)\nweight of cable (suspenders and accessories) = 24,500 tons (22.226 m tons)\n\nCheck my other pictures for a close-up of the cable.$ 01-golden-gate-bridge-cable	02-golden-gate-bridge-cable-closeup	$Having a 3-year-old sitting on top of the sample Golden Gate Bridge cable gives you a better perspective of how thick it really is.\n\nHere's what the sign says:\n\nGolden Gate Bridge - Main Span 4200 Feet\nLength of one cable = 7650 ft (2331.7m)\nDiameter of one cable = 36.375 in (92.4cm)\nWires in each cable = 27,572\nTotal wire used = 80,000 miles (128.748km)\nweight of cable (suspenders and accessories) = 24,500 tons (22.226 m tons)$ 03-golden-gate-bridge-cable
$At the southeastern area of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge there's a small park, a visitor's center, and a sample cross-section of cable for you to climb on. Here's what the sign says:\n\nGolden Gate Bridge - Main Span 4200 Feet\nLength of one cable = 7650 ft (2331.7m)\nDiameter of one cable = 36.375 in (92.4cm)\nWires in each cable = 27,572\nTotal wire used = 80,000 miles (128.748km)\nweight of cable (suspenders and accessories) = 24,500 tons (22.226 m tons)$ 04-golden-gate-bridge-cable	$You can walk or bike across the Golden Gate Bridge on the east side only. A helpful sign poses the friendly reminder not to attempt anything foolish.\n\nWhen we walked across it, it was extremely windy. No matter how nice a day it is outside, bring a jacket for this walk. The cars coupled with the wind make for a noisy stroll, so don't plan on having a lot of subtle, in-depth conversations until you're off the bridge and on land again.\n\nApparently there are approximately 1 suicide attempt per month here, not by U-turns, but by jumping into the bay. About 1 in 10 people survives.$ 05-golden-gate-bridge-sidewalk	06-golden-gate-bridge-plaque
07-golden-gate-bridge-tower	$The best place to view San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge is from several vista points along Conzelman Road. Conzelman Road winds its way up the hill to the northwest of the bridge. It's the second exit you take going north across the bridge (after the scenic view exit), and the first exit going south just before getting on the bridge.\n\nThe first Golden Gate Bridge vista has a short and gradual trail to hike past a 19th century army battery.$ 07-golden-gate-bridge	$The best place to view San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge is from several vista points along Conzelman Road. Conzelman Road winds its way up the hill to the northwest of the bridge. It's the second exit you take going north across the bridge (after the scenic view exit), and the first exit going south just before getting on the bridge.\n\nThis is the view from the end of the short Spencer Battery hike. On a clear day you can see the entire city of San Francisco.$ 08-golden-gate-bridge
$The best place to view San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge is from several vista points along Conzelman Road. Conzelman Road winds its way up the hill to the northwest of the bridge. It's the second exit you take going north across the bridge (after the scenic view exit), and the first exit going south just before getting on the bridge.\n\nThe first Golden Gate Bridge vista has a short and gradual trail to hike past a 19th century army battery.$ 09-golden-gate-bridge	$The best place to view San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge is from several vista points along Conzelman Road. Conzelman Road winds its way up the hill to the northwest of the bridge. It's the second exit you take going north across the bridge (after the scenic view exit), and the first exit going south just before getting on the bridge.\n\nThis is the view from the end of the short Spencer Battery hike. On a clear day you can see the entire city of San Francisco.$ 10-golden-gate-bridge	$The best place to view San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge is from several vista points along Conzelman Road. Conzelman Road winds its way up the hill to the northwest of the bridge. It's the second exit you take going north across the bridge (after the scenic view exit), and the first exit going south just before getting on the bridge.\n\nThis is the view from the end of the short Spencer Battery hike. On a clear day you can see the entire city of San Francisco.$ 11-golden-gate-bridge
$The best place to view San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge is from several vista points along Conzelman Road. Conzelman Road winds its way up the hill to the northwest of the bridge. It's the second exit you take going north across the bridge (after the scenic view exit), and the first exit going south just before getting on the bridge.\n\nIf you've got a good zoom lens you can get WAY closer than this. Only 135mm got me this close with my 10D body (inherent 1.6x magnification).$ 12-golden-gate-bridge	$The best place to view San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge is from several vista points along Conzelman Road. Conzelman Road winds its way up the hill to the northwest of the bridge. It's the second exit you take going north across the bridge (after the scenic view exit), and the first exit going south just before getting on the bridge.\n\nThe first Golden Gate Bridge vista has a short and gradual trail to hike past a 19th century army battery.$ 13-golden-gate-bridge	$The best place to view San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge is from several vista points along Conzelman Road. Conzelman Road winds its way up the hill to the northwest of the bridge. It's the second exit you take going north across the bridge (after the scenic view exit), and the first exit going south just before getting on the bridge.\n\nThe first Golden Gate Bridge vista has a short and gradual trail to hike past a 19th century army battery.$ 14-golden-gate-bridge
15-golden-gate-bridge	16-blue-jay	$From a sign posted at the site:\n\nTo guard the Bay, brick and masonry fortifications were buil on both sides of the Golden Gate. A huge Rodman cannon mounted here could set up a lethal overlapping crossfire with similar guns at Fort Point. Some of the brickwork from the 1870s gun emplacements is still visible along the path.\n\nAs long-range weapons were developed, a new concrete battery - Battery Spencer - was constructed at the end of this point in 1895. Spencer mounted three 12-inch rifles, two of which were still in use almost half a century later. In 1943 the battery was disarmed and the guns scrapped, victims of the evolving technology of war.$ 17-battery-spencer
$From a sign posted at the site:\n\nTo guard the Bay, brick and masonry fortifications were buil on both sides of the Golden Gate. A huge Rodman cannon mounted here could set up a lethal overlapping crossfire with similar guns at Fort Point. Some of the brickwork from the 1870s gun emplacements is still visible along the path.\n\nAs long-range weapons were developed, a new concrete battery - Battery Spencer - was constructed at the end of this point in 1895. Spencer mounted three 12-inch rifles, two of which were still in use almost half a century later. In 1943 the battery was disarmed and the guns scrapped, victims of the evolving technology of war.$ 18-battery-spencer	$From a sign posted at the site:\n\nTo guard the Bay, brick and masonry fortifications were buil on both sides of the Golden Gate. A huge Rodman cannon mounted here could set up a lethal overlapping crossfire with similar guns at Fort Point. Some of the brickwork from the 1870s gun emplacements is still visible along the path.\n\nAs long-range weapons were developed, a new concrete battery - Battery Spencer - was constructed at the end of this point in 1895. Spencer mounted three 12-inch rifles, two of which were still in use almost half a century later. In 1943 the battery was disarmed and the guns scrapped, victims of the evolving technology of war.$ 19-battery-spencer	$There's plenty to see along the Conzelman Road scenic drive. This map is found at Battery Spencer and alludes to a number of places we didn't have time to stop at so late in the day.\n\nWe did visit the Bay Area Discovery Museum. It's great for kids 2-8. That's on the east side of the Golden Gate Bridge on the Sausalito Lateral Road.$ 20-marin-headlands-map
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San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge, CA