Views of the Golden Gate Bridge from Hawk Hill & Battery Spencer

Despite all of the times we've been to San Francisco, we've never stopped to take photos of the bridge.

I know it's a "touristy" thing to do but dammit, we were going to do it for this trip...

We researched prior to the drive several places with cool vantage points. One was Hawk Hill, which is one of the higher points on the Marin side.  There was actually parking and yes, there really were hawks flying around. You can't see them in the photo below, but they were flying around and making a lot of noise.

Also making a lot of noise was a group of Filipino tourists (for the record, I myself am Filipino and am not making a racist statement so no hate mail). Let's just say that they were pretty boisterous! They also had a selfie stick (I really hate those) and took a million photos. Well, why not right, especially if one isn't ever coming this way again. Gotta get those iconic city shots.

The northwestern view of the Golden Gate Bridge

We didn't take too many shots here. The northern end of the bridge was obscured by the hill.

Down below at the Battery Spencer viewpoint, we lucked out and got a spot as another car was leaving. This is the view facing east. There is another viewpoint at the end of the bridge, but that is one of the more popular stops and we didn't want to deal with hordes of tourists. It didn't seem to crowded over on our side.

Walking up to the viewpoint.

Battery Spencer is a military fort (more info linked at the end) and was an important military strategic site. It is over 100 years ago and named after Major General Joseph Spencer of the Continental Army; he was a hero of the Revolutionary War.

This was a much better view of the bridge but because of the sun's position (and possibly my lack of understanding how to fiddle with the settings on my android), my photos weren't that great.  But yes, this is a picture postcard view right here.



We were glad we were able to finally take some shots of the bridge from this end.  During our previous SF trip, we saw the southern end of the bridge from Fort Point (an equally awesome vantage point).  Crossing over from the Marin side to San Francisco won't cost you. You will have to pay a toll going the opposite way but if you have a transponder like we do, the fee would be paid electronically.

It was great to be back in  one of our favorite cities and vacation spots.

More info on Hawk Hill:
www.parksconservancy.org/hawk-hill

More info on Battery Spencer:
www.fortwiki.com/Battery_Spencer, www.militarymuseum.org/BtySpencer + reviews from
yelp

Golden Gate Bridge
Hwy 101
San Francisco, CA 94129

goldengatebridge.org

Reviews from yelp referencing various spots for good views and GoCalifornia (for advice on the various vista points) & tips here from CaliforniaBeat

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