• Tips for Visitors
• Accessibility
• Dogs
• History

Lands End is San Francisco's wildest and rockiest coast, a place strewn with shipwrecks and rife with landslides. These wave- and wind-carved headlands west of the Golden Gate connect two popular landmarks: the Cliff House and the Palace of the Legion of Honor. The Spanish named Lands End's westernmost promontory Point Lobos, so-called for the many lobos marinos (sea wolves, or sea lions as they're known today) that once hauled up on the rocks offshore. The rocks are now roosts for two dark bird species, cormorants and oystercatchers, among others. Trails at Lands End offer a cliff-top walk through shadowy cypress, with scenic overlooks, 30-mile views of the coast, and foot access to several shoreline pocket beaches.

The drive-in vista point at Point Lobos and 48th avenues above the Cliff House presents grand views of the Pacific coast. There stands a memorial to the USS San Francisco, a WW II cruiser that sustained 45 hits and 25 fires during the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942. The names of the 107 men lost in the battle are engraved in the memorial, flanked by the actual shell-riddled bridge of the warship.

The West Fort Miley batteries offer a grassy picnic area among three turn-of-the-century gun emplacements and a view of Ocean Beach. Park in the Vista Point parking lot, walk back along Point Lobos Avenue, and take the first road to the left uphill.

Capital renovations made in 2006 to Lands End and the Sutro Historic District have made trails wheelchair-accessible from the Merrie Way parking lot, visible from the intersection of Point Lobos and 48th avenues above the Cliff House. Additional parking, with stairaccess to the trails, is located in the Vista Point parking lot at the end of El Camino Del Mar.

For more information about GGNRA park accessibility, click here or call the GGNRA Park Headquarters and Information Center at Fort Mason, (415) 561-4700.

Dogs

Rugged Lands End offers canine companions a good workout. This area is approved for on-leash or voice-control dog walking. Bring water and pooper-scooper bags, and be sure to check your pet's coat for foxtails after your adventure. Please beware: dogs and people have fallen from these headlands and sustained serious injuries (and worse). Observe safety precautions! Click here for the latest advisories regarding pets in the Golden Gate National Parks.

Ferries and Cliff House Railroad
Long ago, San Franciscans had to travel on horseback or by carriage to spend a day at the seaside. Eventually, however, the building of the Ferries and Cliff House Railroad in the 1880s brought the seaside within easy reach of the local populace. For a nickel, people could climb into one of the railroad's open-air carriages and enjoy a cliff-top ride around Lands End to the Cliff House.

Shipwreck Overlooks
Looking down at the rocky shoreline from Lands End, you can see the remains of three shipwrecks. In the surf below lurk Mile Rock and Point Lobos, two submerged, treacherous rock outcroppings, only the tips of which are exposed. These rocks have pierced the hulls and sterns of many worthy vessels. When the freighter Ohioan cracked up at Point Lobos on a foggy night back in 1937, her steel hull hit the rocks so hard that sparks illuminated the night. In 1922 and 1937, the Lyman Stewart and the Frank Buck each ended their days on the exact same rock off Lands End. Ironically, these two tankers also began their days together, side by side in the same shipyard. To see the freighter Ohioan's stern post and boilers at low tide, take the stairs down from the Merrie Way parking lot and look over the edge of the northwest vista point. To see the Lyman Stewart's triple expansion steam engine and the Frank Buck's stern post and steam engine, keep an eye out as you walk the Coastal Trail between the Vista Point and the Palace of the Legion of Honor.