I don’t remember if I included Lands End in my original email to my brother with suggested activities; I may have, but if I did, it didn’t make his short list, which was dominated with our ill-fated Monterey/Big Sur road trip. On their last full day I was trying to think of places we could get to that wouldn’t involve mudslides or closed roads and I suggested Lands End, which is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco. I’d been there when Mark and I visited SF for his interview at the first job he had out here, and I was duly impressed by the views. It’s an ideal place to take out-of-town visitors because the trail is not overly long or difficult, there are really cool ruins to explore, and you can see the Golden Gate Bridge. If you park at the visitor center, you can start and/or end your hike at the remains of the Sutro Baths, which was a very large and very popular public swimming facility that opened in 1896 and burned to the ground in 1966. The ruins are very picturesque – every time I have been to the Sutro Baths, I’ve encountered at least one professional photo shoot.
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