Ft. Funston - San Francisco Dog Friendly spot!

If you are a dog owner in the Bay Area, you are about 98.9% likely to have heard of Ft. Funston. Just south of Ocean Beach on the Pacific, this is a huge multi-purpose area.  Hang-gliders take off from here, there is a golf course up on the hills and there are ... the dogs!

This is the most note-worthy dog beach in San Francisco - and while it's ongoing "off-leash" status continues to go through legal battles, for now it is an amazing place for dog owners.

Warning though: it isn't easy to get to the beach. This is the view from the top of the sand stairs:

It's a long way down!

But the beach goes on forever once you get there:

View south down the coast - only one small part of the beach!

You'll see fisherman down on the beach and plenty of dog owners - but the extent of this beach makes it such that it never really feels crowded, especially here on the south end.

There is another route to the beach, if you head north out of the parking lot through the dunes. Keep to the left, you'll see the "beach access" signs. This isn't as steep of a walk for most of the way, but the access to the beach is a more or less a ditch in the cliff that you climb down (and back up). It is usually wet and a slippery, so be ready for it. Of course, those sand stairs will test your endurance too!

-- Happy (woof!) travels!