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Golden Gate Bridge

Name: Golden Gate Bridge
Rating: 2.00

Type: Trail

Length: N/A

Elevation Gain: 200 Feet

Cost: Free

Rating:

(2.00)1

Difficulty: 2stars

(2.00)

Solitude:

(1.00)

ADA Accessible: Yes

Bikes Allowed: Yes

Dogs Allowed: No

Interpretive Guide: No

City: San Francisco

County: San Francisco

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A bit of history and technical details about the history making bridge was featured in an episode of Modern Marvels:

That production quality can be contrasted with this Bethlehem Steel documentary about the bridge as it was being constructed in the 1930's.

Photos

Just north of the bridge on the Marin County side sits this monument to members of the armed services who sailed out of the Golden Gate to serve their country. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

Looking towards the north tower near the very center of the bridge. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

A closeup of the south bridge tower on the Golden Gate Bridge. We noted that the southern tower looked more worn than the one closer to Marin. Perhaps this one was due for the next paint job. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

There were more people than cars. The only vehicles on the road were service vehicles to install a movable traffic barrier that weekend. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

A view of the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco looking north into Marin County. The structure under the bridge is Fort Point. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

Log Entries

Crazy crowds
By Austin Explorer on 1/10/2015
Rating:

Difficulty:

Solitude:

Distance: 7.12 Miles Duration: 3 hours, 16 minutes

Coppertone and I thought that this day would be a great time to walk the bridge since they were closing traffic to install movable dividers on the bridge to aid traffic throughput. The thought was, with no car traffic it would be quieter and more pleasant.

The problem is that others thought the same thing. A lot of people. Worse, the powers that be closed the opposite walkway, so only one half of the non-car capacity of the bridge was open. That meant the one side that was open was crammed with pedestrians and cyclists vying for space. It detracted from the experience a bit because one had to be on the lookout for distracted tourists or speeding cyclists shooting by in both directions.

With all of those negatives, the experience of walking across the bridge was still breathtaking and worth the trip. Naturally, the farther one got from the end of the bridge the fewer people there were, so things thinned out quite a bit in the middle.

We saw a depiction of the suicide prevention barriers that they are planning to erect in the near future. Thankfully they are installed in such a way that views of the city, bay and ocean will not be hampered.