Between City and Reclaimed Nature: Hiking at the Presidio of San Francisco

Date: May 9, 2026

Place: San Francisco, California

Coordinates:

Length: 4 miles

Level: mildly moderate

 

I don't post city walks as hikes. The Presidio of San Francisco however, has so much nature and open areas in it still that I made the exception and listed it on my 4-H Hiking Project. Pappa Quail joined us on this hike too. The kids and their parents met us in front of the Officers Club building, which has some parts that date back all the way to the old Spanish presidio, thus making it the oldest building in San Francisco. In recent years there has been archeological excavations, most of which is not covered by lawn. Some remains of the old mud bricks wall that surrounded the old fort were left visible to the public. 

While we were waiting for the arrival of the 4-H hikers we were looking for birds. There were many blackbirds about but Pappa Quail didn't pay to much attention to them so I took the first blackbird photo. 

Brewer's Blackbird

Pappa Quail had his attention an another bird that was far away in a eucalyptus tree - a beautiful western tanager. 

Western Tanager

When everyone on our 4-H Hiking Project arrived we started our hike by going down the Main Post area, where I fell into my old role as a tour guide in San Francisco and gave them a bit od a history lesson. The kids enjoyed climbing the old cannons that are on display there. I was so excited that I forgot to turn on my navigator until we were all the way down past the Main Post. 

Our hike as captured by my GPS

These beautiful, red-brick buildings that line the north side of the Main Post are of the earliest USA era buildings in San Francisco. These buildings used to be army barracks, now they house an assortment of establishemnts and businesses 

A Waymo car glided by us as we made our way down the Main Post. Waymo cars, which are autonomic, driverless taxies are fairly new in the scene, and I am still not sure what I feel about them. I think of them having ghost drivers. They did first start in San Francisco and are now a regular part of the city's landscape.

Waymo lidar driverless taxie

From the Main Post we continued to the new Promenade that was build over the new hwy101 tunnels. The last time I was in this place the work was still in progress and now it seemed finished, with no signs of construction going on in the area. I really liked this new promenade, it provided a wonderful view to the Golden Gate Straits and the Golden Gate Bridge. 

The landscaped garden was also very beautiful, and I liked that id had so many California native plant species.

Seaside Buckwheat, Eriogonum latifolium

The San Francisco Bay is where the Oakland Port, the major commerce port of Northern California is. Huge liners make their way regularly in and out of the Golden Gate Straits, and we had the pleasure of seeing one as it traveled in at what I thought was a pretty impressive speed for such a huge vessel. 

Naturally, people were not the only passengers on the promenade. A large great blue heron flew over us and Pappa Quail was quick to take its photo. 

Great Blue Heron

From the promenade we continued down through the set of buildings that used to be the old army hospital. For many years the entire Presidio of San Francisco used to be a U.S Army base. A few decades ago the army moved away and the Presidio became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The Congress did not grant funding for the newly minted park and so the money is raised by renovating the old military buildings and leasing them to companies, agencies, and individuals. One of the companies that rented a building of the old army hospital is the famous Lucasfilm Ltd. company, which created the Star Wars franchise. Knowing the popularity of this film series I had, of course, to take the kids by the building so they could see the Yoda fountain that adorns its entrance. 

We continued down the beautifully lanscaped garden past the Lucasfilm building to the Muybridge (the person that invented the zoopraxiscope) Monument, where I could point out to my group the dome of the Palace of Fine Arts, which was our next destination. 

The Muybridge Monument and the dome of the Palace of Fine Arts

The first description of the San Francisco Presidio area by Europeans was of a bleak, tree-less, windswept place. The Native Yelamu people that lived in the San Francisco area resided primarily on the lee side of the peninsula, and visited the presidio for business only - hunting and gathering - until the Spaniards forced them into laboring at the Mission Dolores and at the Presidio. The beautiful trees that are now growing throughout the Presidio were planted much later, and many are of non-native species such as eucalyptus. The Monterey Cypress however, is a native California tree species, and atop one of these trees on our way was a beautiful, adult red-tailed hawk. 

Western Red-tailed Hawk

Shortly after, the hawk took off in pursuit of a gull which annoyed it for some reason. The birds flew away northwest, where some clouds were hanging in the background. 

Red-tailed Hawk and a Gull

We stopped briefly at the small landscaped creek and pool that were on the way down to the SR101 tunnel entrance. The pool had its assortment of waterfowl that learned to get comfortable with and even somewhat reliant on human presence. 

Mallards

These birds included Canada geese Mallards and coots. The coots and the mallards we saw kept their distance, but the geese swam close, perhaps hoping to get some human food. 

Canada Geese

Other than the geese and the ducks, the place was also full of pigeon - the introduced rock pigeons that fill teh European cities and are now quire prevalent in North American cities as well. 

Rock Pigeon

The Palace of Fine Arts is the only remaining building of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition Fair of 1915. Less than a decade after the mega earthquake and the ensuing fire that devastated San Francisco the city had recovered enough to host this world fair, building for the purpose the entire area between where now is the Marina and the Palace of Fine Arts with the expo's buildings, all of them temporary. The natural wetland marsh that used to be there was dried up and landfilled, and the water tamed into a fountain pool before the palace. 

After the world exposition was over all of its the buildings were demolished to make space for the new neighborhood development, except for the Palace of Fine Arts. The building was rented out for events until it started falling apart on its own. Funding was  then secured to rebuild it, replicating all of its features save for the dome ceiling's frescos, now as a stable, durable building that would remain one of San Francisco's attractions.

Both building, pool and garden of the Palace of Fine Arts are a bird heaven. In fact, this place is listed on the Audubon Society website as a birding hotspot. Pappa Quail was happy being there and looking for birds, but he didn't pay too much attention to the European starling, which is an invasive species in America. So I took the photo of the starling, picking up nesting materials. 

There were many people there that day, which might have accounted for the low bird count of Pappa Quail. The red-eared pond slider turtles, also invasive species, were plentiful, though. 

Red-eared Slider

On the north edge of the pond there is a small island full of trees. This island is a roosting and nesting place for herons, mostly night herons but also great blue and egrets. I am used to seeing many herons in those trees but this time we saw pitifully few of them. 

Black-capped Night Heron

The herons know how to hide well in the branches but both Pappa Quail and I are good in finding them. All we saw that day were a single adult bird, and one juvenile which was out in the open, right over the water.

Black-capped Night Heron, juvenile

From the Palace of Fine Arts we continued to the beach, where we sat for a lunch break. I pointed out the Alcatraz Island to the group and people took their chance to take selfies with the infamous prison island in the background. 

Alcatraz

Coastal birds were present there in good numbers, most common of which were the Pacific brown pelicans. 

Brown Pelican

Pappa Quail spotted a common loon in the water. He got very excited because that loon was wearing its breeding colors, which are very beautiful. The loon had the annoying habit of taking a dive at the moment Pappa Quail had his camera on it, so Pappa Quail had to chase it a bt along the shore before he got a nice photo of the pretty bird. 

Common Loon

When Pappa Quail returned with a set of satisfactory loon photos I asked him to take photos also of the hoverboards that cruised the water just off shore. 

After our break we resumed our hike along the shore towards Crissy Field, walking along a wide sandy path that was flanked by areas of rehabilitated beach vegetation. 

I have followed the work to reestablish native coastal vegetation in the area between the Marina of San Francisco and the Crissy Field. In small, fenced dune areas native California coastal plants were reintroduced/ 

Beach Suncup, Camissoniopsis cheiranthifolia

I knew many of these plants of course, from all of my wandering along the California coast. It was lovely to see them blooming now. 

Beach Strawberry, Fragaria chiloensis

With all that work, this area that used to be very disturbed and damaged by the military activity looks now like a beautiful native dune garden as it might have looked before the Europeans set their feet on this coast.  

For a short distance we walked right by the strand line. It was a nice, warm day and there were many people on the beach, and many dogs too. Some of the younger 4-H members send imploring looks to their parents. I said that after we're done with the hike, the beach would be an excellent place for a follow-up fun. 

Not to place too much temptation in front of the children I veered the group into the inner path where a long stretch of rehabilitated dunes separated us from the beach. 

Seaside Daisy, Erigeron glaucus

I must say that although the Presidio has much open space, this small, rehabilitated coastal dunes area is its the most natural-looking place. 

Common Yarrow, Achillea millefolium

Early May is usually mid-spring in the Bay Area. This year however, spring arrived much earlier than usual, and the coastal strand displayed a very lovely and rich bloom. 

California Beeplant, Scrophularia californica

The rehabilitated coastal dunes area continued past the sign announcing Crissy Field. Our group walked lazily along the path, enjoying the beautiful spring weather and the lovely spring bloom. 

Golden Yarrow, Eriophyllum confertiflorum

Naturally, I stopped every now and then and gathered the group around me to show them one thing or another, mostly flowers, of course. 

Sticky Monkeyflower, Diplacus aurantiacus

Most of the time however, I settled for pointing out the wildflowers as I walked to Pappa Quail or to no one in particular. 

Deerweed, Acmispon glaber

Most of the pollinator insects were hovering around the wildflowers, and out of the reach of my camera. This bumblebee in the photo below however, seemed to be intently interested in a particular spot on the sandy path. Perhaps someone dripped some ice cream there, I don't know. 

Yellow-faced Bumblebee

On the sandy path were also small clamps of the pineapple weed, which is of the chamomile genus and is just as good when steeped, if harvested enough distance away from the human traffic. 

Pineapple Weed, Matricaria discoidea

The rehabilitation area that was now on our right between us and the Golden Gate Straits was a bit older and more established. As such, the bushes that grew there were thicker and taller, and the wasn't any visible sand clearings between the shrubs. This is how the coastal dunes look like in Point Reyes and other Northern California areas that weren't as disturbed by human activity. 

The coastal scrub included many of the silverbush lupines. The lupines were blooming but not yet to a great extent. Their season was just beginning. 

Silverbush Lupine, Lupinus albifrons

We reached the small stand of Monterey cypresses that I saw earlier on the hike from the high hwy101 promenade. I don't know if these cypresses were planted there or were naturally there, but they certainly belong in that place. 

Monterey Cypress  Hesperocyparis macrocarpa

In earlier time a little creek that collected the runoff water from the heights of the Presidio down to the straits. Now the creek was tamed into a landscaped canal. At the bottom however, it was allowed to reform the natural lagoon that slowed down the water and mixed it with the saline water that came from the ocean on high tides. 

The lagoon was a good place for waterfowl and shore birds, although at our particular hike day there weren't very many birds there to see.

Western Gull

Of the birds we did see in the lagoon were a few gulls and one double-crested cormorant that was busy diving in search of fish.

Double-crested Cormorant

Pappa Quail lingered behind a bit, searching for more birds in the lagoon. Meanwhile, I moved slowly ahead with the group, knowing that he'll catch up with us in no time. 

Sandysoil Suncup, Camissonia strigulosa

From our place at the west end of the lagoon we had a nice view of the hwy101 tunnels eastern opening. I remember how 101 was before the road was lifted and covered, and I must say that the outcome is much, much better than what it used to be. Much prettier too. 

Hwy 101 Tunnels

We reached the eastern edge of the huge lawn that is Crissy Field. From the late part of the 19th Century through the 70's of the 20th, this lawn was an actual airfield. 

 

Many of the earliest flight experiments and adventures took off and landed in Crissy Field, and their accounts are documented and displayed at the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos. 

 

We crossed Crissy Field to its southwest side where I wanted to pick up the path leading back to the Main Post. The lawn also had some wildflowers blooming - pretty much all exotic, invasive species such as the alfalfa and the lawn daisies. 

Lawn Daisy, Bellis perennis

The path that I used to take in past years splits off the road a bit higher up the hill from Crissy Field. After the construction of the hwy101 tunnels was complete a new pedestrians path was created right below the raised part of the freeway. The path was flanked by an area that seemed to be part wild, part neglected. There were wildflowers there too, many of them native species. 

Blue-eyed Grass, Sisrynchium bellum

I was glad top find some California poppies blooming in that partly wild, partly neglected area. Not too many, but a good presence of the state's flower's brilliant orange.  

California Poppy, Eschscholzia californica

Ever since we made it down to the beach I kept seeing the beach strawberry all along our walk. Until now however, they were all blooming. In this part of the walk though, I started seeing ripe berries. I pointed them out to the kids and soon they started picking and nibbling on them as we walked along. 

A clamp of Douglas iris made me think that this area was also being rehabilitated, being restored to California native plants. Perhaps it was the beginning of the project. It'll be interesting to see what comes of it in a few years. 

Douglas Iris, Iris douglasiana

Still, there were plenty of invasive species and weeds in that area as well. In places the weeds were nearly drowning the native wildflowers. 

Pacific Aster, Symphyiotrichum chilense

After a short distance the path went up a flight of stairs, leveling with the elevated freeway, and then along its side. 

The higher part of the path was lined with beautiful landscaped vegetation, much of it was non-native. It was pretty, though. 

Pacific False Bindweed,  Castilegia purpurata 

The bushes that decorated that part of the path were of a native California species of sage, but native of San Diego and Orange Counties - a southern California plant that grows nowhere near San Francisco naturally. 

Cleveland Sage, Salvia clevelandii 

The path was getting higher than the freeway, which parallel to us, was already inside the tunnel. There was a nice view point on the way from which we could see Crissy Field below, and the Golden Gate Straits behind it. 

Another lupine species was blooming, also at the beginning of its season, up by the elevated path. This one had lovely, single tone yellow flowers. 

Coastal Bush Lupine, Lupinus arboreus

We passed by the San Francisco National Cemetery. Laid to rest in this cemetery are many the soldiers that fell in the Pacific front wars. It was a sombre sight and a reminder of the painful price of wars. 

San Francisco National Cemetery

Just as we were making our last turn toward the Main Post, Pappa Quail spotted a hummingbird on a yucca plant. The yucca was, of course, introduced, This species of hummingbird - migratory, and hear for the summer time. 

Allen's Hummingbird

By the time we made it back to the Main Post the lawn was filled with people picnicking, playing, or simply lying on the lawn, enjoying themselves. I gathered the 4-H group at the picnic tables near the old, displayed cannons and brought out a couple of cold watermelons to celebrate together another fine year of 4-H hiking.