Land’s End

 

Land's End in San Francisco looking east toward the Golden Gate Bridge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Helvetica and I live at Land’s End in San Francisco. Land’s End is as far north and west as you can get on the San Francisco peninsula, without getting wet. It is about 1.8 nautical miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge. Land’s End overlooks Marin County, the Golden Gate and Ocean Beach.

 

Ocean beach looking south from Sutro Heights Park above the Cliff House

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can see twenty miles south along the coast to Devil’s Slide. Twin Peaks, the Haight, Golden Gate Park and the Sunset are visible. Land’s End provides views of the Financial District seven miles east if you are in the right spot. The air is clear because the prevailing winds come off the ocean at an average 18 knots. The air temperature is moderated by the ocean which is usually 48 to 54 degrees. Occasionally, up-swells warm the water to as much as 60 degrees, but not very often. The ocean current comes down from Alaska.  Summertime is foggy at Land’s End because the cool ocean water condenses into fog that is drawn in by the thermal heat rising from California’s hot valleys thirty to one hundred miles inland. The fog can persist at Land’s End for as much as thirty-five days in a row in the summer. The average temperature at Land’s End is 54 to 65 degrees, year round.  The ocean swells vary from three to twelve feet with winter storms generating twenty-five foot swells. Surfing is huge and consistent if you can handle the cold water. The wind is a factor about a quarter of the time.

 

View of Bolinas and Point Reyes looking northwest with a full moon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Golden Gate National Recreation area wraps around Land’s End butting up against San Francisco’s Municipal Lincoln Park Golf Course with the Palace of Legion of Honor museum donated to the city of San Francisco by Alma Spreckels.  Land’s End is a splendid place to live. We’ve been here for almost a quarter of a century and have no plans to move. Even when the big one hits. The San Andreas fault is within 1.5 miles offshore.

Ocean Beach is surfing mecca… if you are brave and fearless!

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