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San Francisco Tour Route Directions |
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The following route was graciously compiled by John Ceragioli, for the 2001 West Coast Tour. This is one way to see downtown San Francisco, Miata style.
| Odometer | Description |
| This tour begins at the parking lot of the Holiday Inn hotel in Mill Valley. Located 4 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge off Highway 101 & Mill Valley exit. | |
| 0.0 | SET YOUR ODOMETER TO 0 |
| Just after going thru the tunnel take Sausalito exit. Just before getting on the Golden Gate Bridge there is an exit titled SAUSALITO. Turn right at this exit, take a left at the stop sign, then immediately turn right to the Marin Headlands. | |
| 1.2 | Take left turn onto coast route. |
| 4.8 | Take the one-way road ahead. |
| 3.1 | Stop on left at abandoned military buildings. Climb the gun emplacements for a great view of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. The Marin Headlands is part of a former military base built during the civil war that have been turned over to the National Park Service and are now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. |
| 3.7 | Go straight to Point Bonita. Restrooms are on the left. Point Bonita is home to a lighthouse that guides ships through the natural entrance into the bay. This sea entrance is known as the "Golden Gate." The Golden Gate was not discovered until the 1760's because of the dense fog that covers the bay area during the summer. |
| 5.0 | Go straight. At stop sign turn right. |
| 6.3 | At stop sign continue straight |
| 7.7 | At stop sign, turn right. Follow signs to Highway 101 South. Get on the Golden Gate Bridge. Stay in the right lane. As of 2003, the toll fee on this bridge is $5.00/car. The bridge was built during the 1930's and is of the architectural style known as "art deco". It is one of the longest suspension bridges in the world. |
| 10.0 | After toll booth make immediate right into the Presidio. The Presidio was a military base begun by the Spanish in the 1600's and was in continual use until the 1990's when it became the largest urban National Park in the world. |
| 10.2 | Turn left onto Lincoln Boulevard. |
| 10.6 | Turn left onto Long Avenue. (Just before Lincoln Avenue bends to the right) |
| 11.2 | This is historic Fort Point. Built at the start of the civil war to protect union gold from the confederate armies' ships it has never fired a shot in anger. During the design of the Golden Gate bridge it was scheduled to be torn down but a group of local women protested and forced a redesign of the bridge. This is a great location to park your Miata and take a short tour of the building. It is highly recommended that you climb up the granite circular staircases to the top of the building for the very best views of the Golden Gate Bridge. Restrooms are available here. Follow the same route back to Lincoln Ave. |
| 11.7 | Turn Left onto Lincoln Boulevard. |
| 12.6 | Go straight onto Sheridan Avenue. |
| 12.9 | Turn Left onto Graham Street. |
| 13.1 | At the first stop sign, turn right onto Lincoln Boulevard. Follow the signs to the Lombard street gate. |
| 13.5 | Turn Left onto Lombard Street. |
| 13.9 | At the stop sign, merge onto Richardson Boulevard (Lombard Street). Eventually merge into the left lane. |
| 15.0 | At Van Ness Avenue go straight and stay on Lombard Street. |
| 15.3 | At Hyde street stop sign go straight onto the "crookedest street in the world". The house on the Northwest corner of Hyde & Lombard was built by Robert Louis Stevenson for his wife. |
| Lombard Street is neither the crookedest (Vermont Street) or the steepest (Vallejo Street) in the city of San Francisco. Built by property developers during the 1930's to attract potential home buyers to their homes it has become a symbol for the city of San Francisco. | |
| 15.4 | At the bottom of the hill continue straight on Lombard Street. |
| 15.6 | Turn right onto Jones. |
| 16.0 | Turn right onto Jackson. |
| 17.4 | Turn left onto Scott. The house on your right (at the stop sign) was once a boarding house. It's most infamous resident was Charles Manson. |
| 18.5 | Turn left onto Hayes. At the top of the hill you'll see the famous view of San Francisco's painted ladies. |
| 18.7 | Turn left onto Steiner. |
| 18.8 | Turn Left on Fulton. |
| 19.1 | Turn Left of Divisadero. After Haight street bear to the left as Divisadero street becomes Castro street. Haight street is famous for the summer of love (1969) and has been home to many famous entertainers including Janis Joplin and The Greatful Dead. Current residents of this neighborhood include Danny Glover and Julia Roberts. |
| 20.1 | Turn right on Market Street. Directly ahead of you is the Castro district. The Castro is a symbol of San Francisco's incredible diversity and tolerance. |
| 22.1 | Turn right onto Twin Peaks Boulevard. By now Market street will have become Portola Avenue. |
| 23.2 | Turn right at the radio antennas and park your cars. Enjoy the views. Restrooms are available here. When you're ready return down the hill. |
| 24.5 | Turn Right onto Portola. |
| 25.0 | On the left (up the hill) is the Mount Davidson cross. Made famous in Clint Eastwood's movie "Dirty Harry" it has been a fixture of this part of San Francisco since the 1930's. |
| 25.9 | Veer left onto Junipero Serra Boulevard. |
| The remainder of the tour continues south along the coast toward Santa Cruz, via as many Miata roads as can be found. | |
| 27.2 | At the Chevron Station veer slightly left onto Highway 280 South. Move into the right lanes once on Highway 280. |
| 29.8 | Veer right onto Highway 1 South towards Pacifica. |
| 38.6 | This is Devil's Slide. Just about every two years this road washes out into the ocean. Fortunately (for us) this occurs mainly during the winter months. |
| From here, Continue South on Highway 1 until you enter the town of Half Moon Bay. | |
| Turn Left on Highway 92 | |
| Turn Right on Highway 35 (Skyline Boulevard) | |
| At the intersection of Highway 84 and Highway 35 is Alice's restaurant (Arlo Guthrie's song of the same name was about this place). | |
| Continue South on Highway 35 until you reach the Highway 9 and Highway 35 intersection. Take Highway 9 towards Santa Cruz. | |
