Batteries to Bluffs Trail

Four hundred and seventy stairs from the Presidio bluff down to the hidden beach with the closest legal view of the Golden Gate Bridge

Where we shoot, on a map

Batteries to Bluffs Trail hasn't been shot for portraits yet — most clients come here for couples work. Switch to "All" to see everything.

Hop next door for a different mood

Baker Beach

Coast · Beach

The Presidio beach with the head-on Golden Gate Bridge view.

Sutro Baths

Coast · Ruins

The 1896 ruins on the cliffs at the western tip of the city.

Lands End

Coast · Cliffs

The Coastal Trail along the northwest cliffs with bridge overlooks.

Golden Gate Overlook

Bluff · Golden Gate Bridge

The Langdon Court plaza with the two cypress framing the bridge.

Batteries to Bluffs is the 0.7-mile coastal trail in the Presidio that drops 470 stairs from the bluff above Baker Beach down to Marshall's Beach, the only foot-access beach in San Francisco with a head-on view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Closed to dogs, tide-dependent at the bottom, and gorgeous at sunset when wet sand reflects the bridge towers. The cluster's most cinematic walk-and-arrive.

The way I actually pitch Batteries to Bluffs is the SF photographer's secret. Head-on Golden Gate Bridge view from a beach you can only reach on foot, 470 stairs of earning it, and almost always empty even on weekends. Baker Beach gives you the bridge with easy access — drive up, walk thirty feet, you're in. Batteries to Bluffs gives you the bridge with a story and zero strangers in your photos.

The lay of the land

Make a trip out of it

Getting here

A few things about Batteries to Bluffs Trail

• 01

  The trail has 470 stairs from top to bottom. A stair-construction project completed in October 2007 installed more than 500 box steps to stabilize the descent. The wooden steps are still maintained but expect rebuilds every few years.

  — Presidio.gov / Modern Hiker
• 02

  Marshall's Beach is the only foot-access beach in San Francisco with a head-on view of the Golden Gate Bridge. The only way in is via this trail.

  — Presidio.gov: Marshall's Beach
• 03

  Marshall's Beach is fully submerged at high tide. Photographing the beach requires checking the NOAA San Francisco tide-station before the shoot. The lowest evening tides often fall near sunset in the right months, which works out conveniently.

  — Parks Conservancy / Presidio.gov
• 04

  Dogs are not allowed on the Batteries to Bluffs Trail, unlike Baker Beach (allowed) and Crissy Field (allowed). The closure is to protect sensitive coastal scrub and nesting birds.

  — Presidio.gov
• 05

  The serpentine rock faces along the trail and on Marshall's Beach are some of the most exposed serpentine in California. The rock formed on the deep ocean floor 150-200 million years ago and was scraped onto the continent as the Pacific Plate dove under the North American Plate.

  — Modern Hiker
• 06

  The Batteries to Bluffs name comes from the historical coastal-defense emplacements (batteries) along the trail and the geological bluffs they sit on. Battery Crosby, Battery Boutelle, and Battery Godfrey are all visible from the trail or accessible from short spurs.

  — Presidio.gov / Modern Hiker

Batteries to Bluffs Trail also appears as Marshall's Beach Trail, Marshall Beach, Marshalls Beach, or Marshall's Beach.