Fort Funston — Attraction in San Francisco

Fort Funston is, hands down, one of the best off-leash dog parks in California--with a few caveats. If miles of beach and coastal trails are your thing, if you're physically fit enough to tackle some steep terrain or steep stairs to access the beach, if your dog has decent to superior recall off leash, then this park is doggie Nirvana. We go every weekend because Aussie is our copilot. :D We clock 5-6 miles round trip from the parking lot, but you definitely don't need to go as far to let your dog revel in freedom. The cliffs block one side of the beach and the ocean blocks the other. It's nearly impossible for your puppers to get lost. You do have to have excellent recall at the top of the cliffs making your way down. If your dog delights in chasing crows or running off without listening, there are many places where they could plunge off the cliffs or run into the parking area and get hit, so keep the leash on that little one until you get to the beach. Once on the beach, you're very safe. The waves are big here, though, especially on windy days. So if your dog is going to bolt into the water when conditions aren't safe, ignoring your recall command, keep it on leash. And there are horses to keep an eye out for. A company has guided rides down the cliffs, making their way to the beach, a couple times a day on the weekends. Stay alert and leash up if your dog doesn't respond to a sit/stay or ignore the horses when they are on the beach. This company will get aggressive with your dog and try to whip them if they're bothering/stalking/herding the horses, which just riles the horses up and creates a VERY DANGEROUS situation. And finally, my pet peeve... Just because this is an off leash park, it doesn't mean that your dog gets to play with any other dog it wants to. There will be dogs who are game and others who aren't. You are responsible for your dog interacting with other dogs. Be vigilant reading body language. Protect your dog from dangerous encounters. A wagging tail doesn't necessarily mean, "I'm friendly." Watch for: stiff body posture--again, not tail, but a hard stare, a freeze, a curled lip, a raised head or turned to the side when another dog is greeting. Dogs that want to play have relaxed and often goofy/bouncy body language. Or they play bow-- that's when they lower the front part of their body and their butt is in the air. Those are all welcome signs to play. Watch for the warning signs and call your dog away from dogs who just want to enjoy the beach and not wrestle with your...

Natural beauty accessible to city folks.

So many activities to choose from:

Walk the trails that take thru dunes and alongside ocean vistas or take the trail or stairs down to the beach.

HEADS UP! Especially after heavy rains, cliffs can fall - and people near them have been killed.

HEADS UP! Sneaker waves and rips are real - never turn your back on the ocean! Again, people have been killed.

HEADS UP! You and your dog need to stay away from cliff edges - people have been known to fall, get stuck, need rescue.

For folks with mobility aids - trails are accessible to a point - in some places they are covered with sand. Trail is fairly flat and accessible at least to the watering area for dogs.

Watch the hang gliders - from the wooden landing or from the trails. Or hang glide if that is your thing!

Enjoy the flowers. Thanks to volunteers, there are so many more California native plants now thriving - including lupines. Also, invasive ice plant is everywhere and the flowers are pretty. But! natives are important for local pollinators, birds, etc.

Watch ravens soar, glide, and do barrel rolls on the same air currents the hang gliders sail on. Ravens are incredible intelligent problem solvers. They remember faces - so be kind! Always!

Walk your dog - and remember there are lots of dogs here. So if you have a dog that is not comfortable around other dogs, this is the not the place for you.

Bring your kids - have fun - but also be mindful of cliffs, dogs, and ocean if you go down to the beach.

Learn about history - there is a lot of history to this place as the info plaque will tell you. Info plaques are by the parking lot.

Porta-potties only. But if you are driving, you are not far from Stonestown or Westlake shopping centers.

Be respectful - take only pictures and leave no trace.

Enjoy and appreciate this place of incredible beauty which is available thanks to the people who worked to make it a public place and the people who care...

Having lived in the Bay Area my entire life and making plenty of visits to San Francisco (at least a few hundred), I'm shocked that I had never been to this park. This is definitely for locals. I would say half the people there had their dog with them and we only saw two other people with dogs on a leash. Our dog had never been off leash, we have a big yard and another dog to play with so exercise isn't an issue. Anyway, that aside, our dog Bailey loves everyone and we decided to go ahead and take him after reading some other reviews. We were so glad we did. Bailey was not very good about staying close to us, his range seemed to be about 30-50 yards, but as he loves everyone, it was great.

The walk from the parking lot to the beach access path is probably a quarter to a half mile, I'm guessing. The walk took about 10 minutes for us. The actual path down to the beach is a little steep and sandy. Going down to the beach wasn't bad except for a small wet area that appeared as if it might be slippery but no one slipped. Going back up was a full 10 minutes because for every step, the sand smashed out from under your foot reducing your progress. Up was a bit like a stair-master. The change in elevation is probably 50-75 feet, again guessing. It's work going up.

Along the beach, Bailey met lots of dogs and people. There are areas that the sand is dark grey or almost black and I'm not sure what causes that. Along the water was all typical California sand. Bailey clearly enjoyed this adventure and we will definitely be taking him back.

*Remember to bring potty bags, there are some baggy share boxes which we are grateful for and will have to make a contribution. However, the bags in the boxes appear to be donated and random types and sizes.

I'm only attaching one photo, it is Bailey (all white) with a friend he picked up along the beach an Australian Cattle Dog mix. What an...