The hook
200-foot sand bluffs at San Francisco's southwest corner where hang gliders launch off old coastal-defense batteries and half the city's dogs run leash-free below.
01Why it's worth it
Fort Funston is what's left of a harbor-defense post gone feral: WWII gun batteries and Nike-era remnants buried in dune scrub, a clifftop launch that makes it one of the country's premier coastal hang-gliding sites, and a wide, usually foggy beach at the bottom of a very soft sand ladder. The mood is unpolished in the best way — locals describe threading "the maze of trees" to come out on top of the bunkers with a private ocean view. On a windy day you can sit on a battery roof and watch gliders hover at eye level, which is quietly hypnotic. Fair warning that shapes the visit: this is the Bay Area's most famous off-leash dog park, so expect joyful chaos on the main trails; and the cliffs are unstable — respect the closure fences.
02How to experience it
Parking lot off Skyline Blvd (Highway 35) just south of Lake Merced. Check the hang-glider viewing deck first — if the wind's right, that's the show. Then the loop: north along the bluff through the trees and bunkers, down to the beach, back up the sand ladder (harder than it looks). Fog transforms it; that's not a bad thing.