[N2] Point Bonita Lighthouse

This is a difficult ride with some good climbing. The traffic is not that bad. But it can be very foggy most year around. So pick a nice day to head out.

From San Francisco, go over Golden Gate Bridge and take the immediate exist (Alexander). Then take the immediate left and go under the 101 freeway. You will see a parking lot on your left. You can park here and start your ride.

Start on Conzelman road. The ride starts off with steep hills! As you grind up the hill, don't forget to stop once in a while at the pull-over stops and enjoy the view of the bridge and San Fricisco.

Once you reach Hawk hill, the road turns into one way. Watch out, this is a STEEP descent, but fun. Before starting the decent, you can stop and explore the tunnels for WWII batteries.

Stay on the road to get to the light house. You have to walk about 0.5 miles to get to the light house. At light house you will experience wind-gust, rugged cliffs, relentless surf, dense fog. Truly an amazing experience.

A little further away from the light house are some more abandoned batteries.

To return, go on to Field road (by NOT turning into the way you just came in). You will go past the visitor center. They have some good trail maps of the area. Now stay on Bunker Road. You will soon hit a tunnel. Traffic is one way inside the tunnel and the signal timing is good enough for bikes to pass. Start into the tunnel, right after traffic light turns green. DO NOT go into the tunnel if the light is already green. You might run into head-on traffic inside the tunnel! And the tunnel is dark!! Also don't forget to hit the 'bikes inside tunnel' warning light when you enter the tunnel.

If you don't want to enter the tunnel, you can climb back up by MacLaugh Road. But it is an uncessary and steep climb, just to decent back to parking lot.

Once you are through the tunnel, turn RIGHT at the stop sign, and again veer right. Parking lot will be on your left.

Photos

all photos from the ride

How to Get there :map
Distance : 10m
Difficulty : Difficult. with steep climbs and steep decent
Ride Type : paved road with bike lanes (road bikes)
Reference : Marin County Bike Trails: Easy to Challenging Bicycle Rides for Touring and Mountain Bikes