Fort Funston

Fort Funston Rd.
San Francisco, California 94101
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Local Phone: (415) 561-4323

While DogTrekker regularly updates off-leash rules, it is important to check to be sure that this area still allows voice control prior to removing your dog’s leash.

Fort Funston features 200-foot high sandy bluffs on San Francisco’s southwest coast where the winds blow reliably wildly. No surprise it is one of the premier hang-gliding spots in the country. A network of trails make it ideal for hiking and horseback riding. Enjoy meandering on the trails, romping down at the beach, or hiking along the cliffs that lead to the cliffs above Mussel Rock Beach.

Distance: Various trails and lengths. The hiking trail from the Fort Funston parking lot off of Skyline Blvd to the cliffs above Mussel Rock Beach is an easy 4-mile out-and-back trip.

Difficulty: The trails throughout Fort Funston make for an adventure as long or as short as you’d like. Most routes are easy - moderate, but the trail down to the beach and back up can be steep and strenuous.

Leash rules: Off-leash (excluding 12-acre closure and Coastal Trail north of Horse Trail intersection due to erosion). You may encounter horses on the beach, and on the hiking trail on the cliffs…so bring a leash just in case!

Parking: Parking lot off of Skyline Blvd. When heading south on Skyline, turn right at the green Fort Funston sign.

Drinking Water: Yes; one water fountain at the Skyline Blvd. parking lot, and one in the middle of the park.

Help us keep this beach beautiful and dog-friendly:
• Always follow the posted rules
• Respect natural marine life and habitats
• Be aware of tides and currents
• Pack in and pack out, leaving only paw prints

Fort Funston, San Francisco

Unleashed! Photo Credit: @princesshasegawa

• Fort Funston, San Francisco. This stretch of rugged headlands just south of Ocean Beach in the southwest part of the city is not fenced, but it’s nirvana for off-leash dogs and woofing with canine activity even on drizzly, foggy days. more »

San Francisco County’s GGNRA Bounty

Lands End Trail - Photo Credit: gastondog (CC)

In San Francisco, GGNRA lands wrap the shoreline almost all the way from Fort Mason in the north to Fort Funston in the south, with a few breaks along the way. Dogs and their people can enjoy miles-long leashed walks with ocean views and, at a few places, unclip their canine companions to chase the surf and run free. more »

Urban Rambles In San Francisco

View from Bernal Heights Park. Photo Credit: @thea_l8r

Is there a more dog-friendly big city anywhere else in the world? If so, we don’t know about it. An abundance of open space available to canines makes the City by the Bay especially enticing to four-legged visitors with humans on the other end of the leash. Well-behaved pooches can socialize off-leash in many places around the city, while long on-leash hikes are a way of life. more »

Chasing Waves With Your Pup

Splash! Photo Credit: @Sweetd67

For water-loving canines, nothing beats fetching a bright yellow tennis ball from the surf and romping full speed ahead on a sandy beach. But while there’s plenty of sand to share with your leashed pup along California’s 840 miles of coastline, you should know before you go where dogs are and aren’t allowed to get their ya-yas out. Here are a few of our favorite off-leash strands: more »

Impact: San Francisco County

Enjoying the view, and the freedom. Photo Credit: RACINGMIX (CC)

If the National Park Service’s proposed dog rule goes through, it will constitute the largest single reduction in recreational access for people in the history of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. more »

Stop Calling it "Golden Gate National Parks"

Photo Credit: Scott Kidder (CC)

by Sally Stephens

San Francisco Examiner post 3/27/16

Congress created the Golden Gate National Recreation Area “to concentrate on serving the outdoor recreation needs of the people of this metropolitan area.” That’s from the official report of the creation by the U.S. House of Representatives. And that’s also why Congress made it a National Recreation Area — not a National Park.

Yet some people, in a radical reinterpretation of history, are now trying to claim the GGNRA, which includes Ocean Beach, Fort Funston, Muir Beach and Crissy Field, was always intended to be a traditional national park. more »

San Francisco is for Dog Lovers

Addie headed for fun at Fort Funston. Photo by Heather.

If there’s a more dog-friendly big city than San Francisco, we at DogTrekker.com certainly don’t know about it. An abundance of open space available to the canine set is one of the City by the Bay’s main attractions for dog lovers. Well behaved pooches are allowed to exercise and socialize off-leash in two dozen places within city limits, including several—Bernal Heights, Crissy Field, Fort Funston—with views to drool over. more »

Enjoy These GGNRA Beaches While You Can

Dog running on Muir Beach: Photo by Carolyn (CC)

For dog lovers, few sights bring more joy than watching man’s best friend run free and unfettered on a beach. In the Bay Area, one of the top places to enjoy the privilege has always been Muir Beach, a gorgeous strand in Marin County bounded by high bluffs, habitat-sensitive wetlands and a lagoon.

Dogs have always been allowed on leash or under voice control in designated areas here, but they may not be for much longer. The same goes for Baker Beach, parts of Crissy Field, the beach at Fort Funston and the trails at Sweeney Ridge.

Already strict leash laws have been imposed on Rancho Corral de Tierra, a newly acquired, 3,800-acre parcel of undeveloped land near Montara where generations of residents have allowed their dogs to run leash-free. more »

Bridge for All Seasons

Cavallo Point

For 75 years, the Golden Gate Bridge has been the symbol of San Francisco — and one that never grows less beautiful with the passing of time. It's no longer legal to walk over the bridge with a dog, but there are many trails-with-a-view from which to admire it in the city and in adjacent Marin County. more »

San Francisco

The City by the Bay has numerous options for waterfront fun with your dog, chief among them Crissy Field and Fort Funston, both part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area administered by the National Park Service. Crissy Field, a former military air installation, affords romping canines and their humans splendid views of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Marin Headlands and the city skyline. more »

It's a Dune Deal

Whether you're visiting San Francisco or you live here, you owe it to yourself and Fido to visit Fort Funston, a stretch of rugged headlands just south of Ocean Beach. This is what most of the "outside lands" looked like before the dunes were leveled to build Golden Gate Park and attract housing to what is now the Sunset district.

Photo: Leia, Fort Funston at Sunset - Quihonq (Creative Commons)

Which Fort Funston Do You Want?

If quality time at coast side spots like Fort Funston, Muir Beach or Rodeo Beach is a big deal for you and your pooch, heads up! The 4,700-acre Golden Gate National Recreation Area was created in the 1970s with substantial donation of land from the City of San Francisco. From that day to this, residents of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties have flocked to the GGNRA for its designated purpose: multiple-use recreation for urban residents. Only 1 percent of the GGNRA allows dogs at all. However, since management was turned over to the National Park Service, the feds have made repeated attempts to transform these urban parklands into essentially dog-free wilderness areas à la Yosemite National Park. Only the most determined efforts of the local dog community (which have included lawsuits and threats by the City of San Francisco to repossess its land) have forestalled previous federal efforts that would have made such beloved destinations as Fort Funston and Crissy Field largely off limits to dogs. more »

Fort Funston

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