Every day, when I go for a jog in my neighborhood, I make it a point to look up and see how much of Sutro Tower, located on top of Twin Peaks, I can see.  For roughly 4 months, between May and September, there was not one day that I saw the whole tower, hidden by Summer’s overcast clouds.  When you move to San Francisco, the locals like to brag that the Fall is Summer around here.  Oblivious to the fact that you prefer your Fall to be like Fall and for your Summer to be like Summer, thankyouverymuch.  True to form, though, we entered November, and it has been perfect blue skies ever since.

On a day when you can see the entirety of Sutro Tower, I strongly recommend a trip to Twin Peaks.  This may be the most incredible day hike the city has to offer.

Day Trip to Twin Peaks and West Portal (6 hours, walk 2 miles)

What you’ll need:

1. Sneakers, or appropriate shoes for a mild, short hike.
2. $4 in bus/metro fare.
3. Windbreaker.

 

Recommended Itinerary

1. Travel to Twin Peaks
2. Visit Twin Peaks
3. Coffee/tea at the base of Twin Peaks
4. Travel to West Portal
5. Late afternoon lunch at El Toreador in West Portal

 

 

1.       Travel to Twin Peaks

It is surprisingly easy to get to the top of Twin Peaks – two MUNI bus lines swarm the southern base of the peaks and a community bus snakes most of the way up the hill.  If you opt to drive the day trip, Twin Peaks Blvd will take you right to the summit, with plenty of parking on the shoulders.  (See How to ride the Bus, How to ride the MUNI Metro, and How to ride BART.)

MUNI’s 48 bus route travels up 24^th street, through the Mission and Noe Valley neighborhoods, and over to Portola Drive, at the base of Twin Peaks Blvd.  You can transfer to the 48 at the 24^th Street BART stop.

You could alternatively catch the 48 at the West Portal stop on MUNI Metro’s L-Taraval Line, and take it in the inbound direction.

MUNI’s 44 bus route travels south from Inner Sunset and Midtown Terrace.  You can transfer to the line at either the 9^th and Judah stop on the MUNI Metro N-Judah line, or transfer at the Forest Hills stop on the L-Taraval Line.

You will want to exit the bus at Portola Dr and Glenview Dr.

After exiting your bus, you have the option of waiting for the MUNI 37 route, or just begin your hike now.   The MUNI 37 is a community bus, and therefore does not have any traditional MUNI stops.  You can catch it on the right side of Glenview Drive.

However, the 37 appears to only come every half hour, and the summit is only three quarters of a mile away.  We had just missed the bus and so we walked.  Head north on Glenview Dr, and take a right onto Dawnview Way.  Take a left on Burnett Ave and another left on Crestine Dr.

Once you get to the top of Crestine Dr, you will see a sign for Twin Peaks and footpath guiding you to the summit.  Go ahead and take it.

2.       Visit Twin Peaks

Twin Peaks are two 1,000 ft summits right in the middle of San Francisco.  They are so tall as to help create the micro-climate effect that the city is known for – the ocean air and fog sweeps over the western neighborhoods and stops as it hits the two peaks.  The eastern neighborhoods mostly remain unscathed.  The northern and southern neighborhoods aren’t protected, and hence why walking down Geary Blvd sends your hair sweeping for the skies, only somewhat matted down by the perpetual mist.

Twin Peaks has the look of a perfect camelback from the city below.  I’ve often said that it looks like a Tim Burton depiction of a mountain, with visible buses teetering on the horizon.   The pronged Sutro Tower, a red and white television antenna tower, stands on top of the peaks and is visible even 60 miles away.

As you ascend the, frankly, gazillion steps, the view becomes more and more astonishing.  There are no trees up here, and so you will be hiking with a clear view of downtown San Francisco, the Castro, Noe Valley, the Mission, Mission Bay, Potrero Hill, the Bay, the Port of Oakland, Oakland…really as far as your eye can see.

Once you come to the road between the two hills, pick a hill and ascend.  I suppose I should have suspected how shocking the 360 degree view would be, since a) nothing about Northern California geography is subtle, and b) there’s a reason you can see the hills from every part of the city.  But, see, this doesn’t happen on the East Coast.  There’s never a point where you go up on a hill, and you can see an ocean, a complete city, a bay, and an internationally renowned bridge all in one take.  Alright, maybe on the edge of New Jersey looking into Manhattan, but you know, I grew up all around lovely NJ so I speak from knowledge here, New Jersey is slightly less pretty than the Bay Area.

From the top of Twin Peaks, you will indeed see Outer Sunset, with the Pacific Ocean looming beyond it; the Presidio giving way to the Golden Gate Bridge; the fuzzy Marin Headlands; in addition to the Castro, Mission, Bay Bridge, and downtown San Francisco; the industrial east bay with its barges and cranes; and the Peninsula to the South, with its ticky tacky homes snaking up and between the hills.  Sutro Tower will appear on the hillside just next door, large and tall, broadcasting its television signals.

I do recommend climbing up both hills, as the northern one offers the better view of the Golden Gate Bridge and the second one offers a boulder to rest on and contemplate what you are seeing.

[You can alternatively drive up to Twin Peaks.  There was plenty of parking on a Sunday afternoon, and there are viewing platforms that are at road-level.]

Once you have picked out your house or hotel, city landmarks, and gotten tired of the wind, descend the peak from a footpath to the south.  Eventually, the path ends and you will continue walking down Twin Peaks Boulevard.

3.       Coffee/Tea at the base of Twin Peaks

Once you have walked all the way down Twin Peaks, you’ll come to the intersection of Twin Peaks Boulevard, Portola Drive, Woodside Ave, and O’Shaughnessy Blvd.  It is as utterly lovely as it sounds – a mess of large boulevards, cars, and strip malls.

At this point in the day, your party may be feeling a bit exposed – my husband and I craved a warm drink, preferably somewhere cozy and wind-free.  Luckily, the shopping center at the corner has both a Starbucks and an independent coffee shop, Creighton’s, so exercise your pro or anti Starbucks stance and go in.  Curl up around your drink and try to get your hair back into a semi-acceptable state.

[I’d also be remiss not to report that the Tower Market/Mollie Stone’s, on the corner, is the only market in San Francisco where I have found rennet tablets, for use in making homemade mozzarella and ricotta cheese.  So, you may want to pick up a box, available in Aisle 4, for future escapades in the kitchen.  You’ll have to also purchase Citric Acid, which is available in the canning section of Rainbow Grocery.  Trust me, homemade mozzarella is worth the chemistry experiment.]

4.       Travel to West Portal

Our day continues with a trip to West Portal.  I was going to recommend you pick up the 48 bus from the corner of Portola Drive and Woodside Avenue (it comes every 7 minutes), since it’s a very quick and easy ride.

However, I decided to walk down Portola Drive and was surprised to find that it was a really beautiful and peaceful walk – not exactly what you’d imagine from a four lane boulevard that cars whip around.  As you descend the hill on Portola, you’ll see that darn Pacific Ocean again, but this time the more intriguing view is of the beautiful homes of Forest Hill tucked into the steep hillsides, Eucalyptus trees hovering over and all but hiding them.  It feels like you are no longer in San Francisco.

So, take the bus, or walk.  I’m becoming a first class walker to bring you this site, so my idea of a pleasant, short walk may be somewhat skewed.

 

 

 

5.       Late Afternoon Lunch at El Toreador in West Portal

Take the bus to the corner of Vicente St and West Portal Ave (you will know when you are at the stop when you see the MUNI Metro tunnel .)  If you are walking, turn right off Portola Drive onto Vicente St and walk for one block.

I’m a bit infatuated with West Portal, mostly from my previous visit on the way to the San Francisco Zoo.  It’s just so pretty!  And quaint!  It reminds me a bit of Cobble Hill in Brooklyn, before all the movie stars moved in.  It even has a small movie theater!  As we walk along, I dream of cozy dinners in the neighborhood’s adorable restaurants, running into the glistening, misty street in order to get to the theater in time.  Really, we’d be Fred Astaire, minus the agility and rhythm.

Whenever we come here, I ask my husband why we didn’t choose to live here instead.  As is the plight of all exasperated husbands, he has to remind me that I wouldn’t have lasted a month on the western, chilly, fog infused hillside.  Right, right.  But, it’s a very nice place to visit when it’s startlingly nice out, like today.

Take some time to walk along tree-lined West Portola Drive.  When you have built up an appetite, head to El Toreador, a Mexican restaurant less than a block away from the MUNI tunnel entrance.  You’ll recognize it as the completely insane storefront on another wise docile street.

The insanity continues on to the interior, which takes Mexican-kitsch-hanging-from-the-ceiling to a whole new level, in a place the size of our living room in DC.  The restaurant is so colorful, so full of life, and its wait staff is incredibly friendly and on top of things.

I sought out El Toreador, since I saw it described as a Southern California brand of Mexican.  Like my husband’s never ending search for soup dumplings, I have a never ending search for a) a vegetarian version of taquitos and b) sopes.  I experienced the first when I was in high school, homemade by my brother.  I experienced the second on a trip to Mexico City more than five years ago.  I have searched every menu for them since, and had yet to come across either.

Until El Toreador offered a potato taquito.  Oh, joy and happiness!  The taquitos were delicious, crunchy and fried – just as I’d remembered them. My lunch was satisfying and good, a perfect end note to a slightly vigorous day.

After lunch, head to the MUNI tunnel.  From here, you can catch the L-Taraval, T-, K-, M-MUNI metro lines or the 48 bus.

 

 

 

Addendum

When I got to the MUNI Metro tunnel…I decided to extend my day with a trip to Ocean Beach so I could see my first sunset over the ocean.  This makes for a pretty long day, and I was exhausted by the end of it.  However, as I’ve said before, this area is usually covered in fog, making sunsets pretty in their own way.  Sometimes, though, you just want a blazing sunset.  As this day was already clear as could be, I figured this would be a good day to experience one.

And so, I switched to the outbound side of the tracks and hopped on the L-Taraval line.  If you want to do this, I recommend getting to Ocean Beach roughly a half hour before sunset. The show really begins just after the sun has dipped under the horizon.