Walk Across The Golden Gate Bridge, Visit The Welcome Center, Snap Some Pictures From Vista Point
Enjoy this unique view of the bay, walking across the Golden Gate Bridge is something you should do at least once in your life.
This is part of a series of family-oriented day trip outings around the San Francisco Bay Area I look forward to enjoying with my kids once social distancing and shelter in place isn’t the norm any longer.
Photo by Joseph Barrientos on Unsplash
Social Isolation — Day 15
We are living through a historic time, and I’m kind of over it.
I’m looking forward to a time when we can read about our current events in a history book, with some hindsight and objectivity, and drop all the political posturing we experience on a daily basis.
So, for today I’m imagining crossing the Golden Gate, taking in the beauty of what makes the Bay Area so special.
Destination: Golden Gate Bridge
Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge
Snap a photo from Vista Point
Tour the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center
I keep seeing photos of the Golden Gate Bridge with no pedestrians and no traffic. The reflex at the back of my head says to go out and see this for yourself, but the reality of our current situation deems that irresponsible.
The bridge has only been closed a few times to traffic. When I was a kid, we tried to get over to the bridge for the 50th-anniversary closure, which luckily didn’t work out as too many people showed up. We hung out in Golden Gate Park with seniors who had crossed the bridge back when it opened, which ended up being pretty cool.
Then back in January 2015, the bridge was closed for one weekend to allow installation of the movable barrier, and I got the kids out to see the bridge without cars or many people. Seeing the bridge empty like that is a surreal experience, as typically it is so crowded and noisy. All the same, crossing the bridge on foot is a remarkable experience I would encourage anyone to do at least once.
Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge
Photo by Francisco Delgado on Unsplash
Depending on where you start, a walk across the bridge is just under 2 miles each way. You probably want to allow yourself a couple of hours to make the trip back and forth.
On most days, a walk across the bridge can get crowded, be patient. Typically, pedestrians walk on the eastern side of the span (on the bay side), and bicycle traffic is on the western side (on the ocean side). Periodically the western side is closed to bikes so that maintenance crews can do their work, and they push all foot and bike traffic to the same side. So stay aware of your surroundings.
If you are riding a bike on the pedestrian side, I might suggest walking it across the bridge instead. The bike rental companies promote riding across the bridge, down into Sausalito to take the ferry back, and this ends up being a pretty popular tourist activity. It’s a great ride, you can also extend your trip to Tiburon or Larkspur and take the ferry back from there.
There are some wonderful photo opportunities as you walk across the bridge, but be sure to be courteous to those walking around you. When you get near the towers, be sure to look up. When walking around the towers, there are some blind spots, so remain vigilant in looking around you for your safety.
Snap a photo from Vista Point
Photo by Anagha Varrier on Unsplash
Although technically, you can drive to Vista Point, I wouldn’t advise it. Often there is a huge backup of people waiting for parking spaces, and the bridge district has been experimenting with parking closures on weekends to prevent car accidents.
Once you cross the bridge, you can continue on walking to Vista Point where you can take some photos and maybe stop to enjoy the view for a bit with a sandwich or some snacks you may have brought. There are restrooms here too. There isn’t a lot to do here aside from enjoying the view and taking some photos, but it’s a good spot to rest before turning around and walking back across the bridge.
Tour the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center
FASTILY / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)
Now that you have gotten the feel for how majestic the bridge is, its size and design, stopping at the Welcome Center on the south side of the bridge will have more meaning.
Inside there is a gift shop (who doesn’t love a refrigerator magnet?) but also exhibits and stories about how the bridge got built. Admittedly, this area is a little touristy, but we should all play a local tourist occasionally.
The Roundhouse restaurant was recently renovated a few years back. At the current time, cafe operations have been suspended as they rethink their approach to food operations. I’d certainly pop in for a cup of coffee and a snack if it were open and I was visiting the bridge.
Cody Tolmasoff is an author and publisher for Adventuring.in. He is a recovering programmer and a San Francisco native, raising two daughters, and regularly finding new adventures around the SF Bay Area. This article is an excerpt from an upcoming book, 52 San Francisco Bay Area Weekend Adventures, Day Trips With Your Kids!
Find him on Twitter @codyo, and read his most recent title Adventures in Getting Out on Amazon, filled with advice on successfully getting your family out for day trip adventures.
Originally published on Medium on 28 March 2020