Presidio Batteries

North of Baker Beach is a whole string of batteries, built into the bluffs overlooking the ocean outside the Golden Gate. They are part of a fortification system constructed over many years. After our picnic at Baker Beach, we drove north a mile or so to park, and then explored.

We enjoyed more beautiful views of Golden Gate Bridge from this different vantage point, and sweeping views of water, hills, and sky. The ocean was choppy, but fleets of sail boats took advantage of the brisk wind. Here the plant community changes from dunes to coastal scrub.



Fortified bunker and the Golden Gate Bridge

The batteries are fascinating in their own right. They are solid and substantial. With my love of wild, desolate places, this would have been a prime assignment. The views of the ocean on one side and the Bay on the other, the Marin Headlands to the north, the rocky and forested coast to the south. But I imagine for most, it would have seemed like the end of the world, and more akin to banishment! You can learn more about the fortification system on the National Park Website: http://www.nps.gov/prsf/historyculture/batteries-east-and-west.htm

Geometric lines of one of the batteries 

Iron door with graffiti

Some of the plants in this area look like weeds. However, after visiting the Wanted Weeds exhibit at this year’s San Francisco Garden Show, I have a new appreciation for weedy plants. As my aunt and I learned, they can “be virtuous host plants, nectar sources, and medicinal”. Maybe it takes a tough little plant to stand guard at the batteries.

Weeds at the edge of the bunker, and pines on the hills