Fort Funston
Encyclopedia
Golden Gate National Recreation Area
The Golden Gate National Recreation Area is a U.S. National Recreation Area administered by the National Park Service that surrounds the San Francisco Bay area. It is one of the most visited units of the National Park system in the United States, with over 13 million visitors a year...
at the southwestern corner of San Francisco. It occupies windswept headlands along the Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
coast, steep cliffs and the beach below. The site includes some of the last remnants of the sand dune ecosystem that once covered the western half of San Francisco.
The land was acquired by the federal government in 1900 upon the establishment of the Lake Merced
Lake Merced
Lake Merced is a freshwater lake in the southwest corner of San Francisco. It is surrounded by three golf courses , as well as residential areas, Lowell High School, San Francisco State University, Fort Funston and the Pacific Ocean...
Military Reservation, with the purpose of assisting in the coastal land defense for San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
. The fort, renamed for Major General Frederick Funston
Frederick Funston
Frederick N. Funston also known as Fred Funston, was a General in the United States Army, best known for his role in the Spanish-American War and the Philippine-American War...
in 1917, began to take shape during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, with the construction of a parade ground, barracks and a series of coastal batteries. The batteries were declared obsolete shortly after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, but Fort Funston later became a Nike missile launch site. The fort was inactivated in 1963 and eventually transferred to the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
to be administered as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
The area is covered with a network of trails suitable for hiking or horseback riding, many of which descend via Dutch sand ladder
Dutch sand ladder
A Dutch sand ladder is a cable or rope ladder with rungs usually made of wood, lying on a sandy slope to allow persons to ascend or descend with minimal erosion...
s to the beach. The beach is known for its magnetic sand, and the strong, steady winds make the cliffs overlooking the beach a popular site for hang gliding
Hang gliding
Hang gliding is an air sport in which a pilot flies a light and unmotorized foot-launchable aircraft called a hang glider ....
. The world record for the farthest thrown object was set here in 2003 by Erin Hemmings, who threw an Aerobie
Aerobie
An Aerobie is a flying ring used in a manner similar to a flying disc , for recreational catches between two or more individuals. The Aerobie is a ring, rather than a disc. An Aerobie is also lighter, and is more stable in flight. It can be bent to tune it for straighter flight. Since it has very...
flying ring 1,333 feet. Fort Funston is the only area within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area where off-leash canine activity is allowed.