The back story
Wild San Francisco: Sea Lions, Coyotes and the Golden Gate
Hundreds of sea lions on the floating docks of Pier 39, coyotes back in the Presidio and Golden Gate Park, and the wild cliffs of Lands End: the wild side of San Francisco.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Oren Rozen · CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia CommonsThe natural side of San Francisco, from the California sea lions that took over Pier 39 after the 1989 earthquake to the coyotes of the Presidio and Golden Gate Park and the cliffs of Lands End and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, with a directory of the parks in our guide.
San Francisco sits at the mouth of a great bay, wrapped by a national park. Much of its shoreline, from Lands End to the Presidio and Crissy Field, belongs to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and the wildlife is closer than in almost any American city: sea lions bark from the docks of Fisherman's Wharf, and coyotes have returned to the city's parks.
This is a short, honest guide to San Francisco's natural side: the sea lions, the coyotes and the wild coast. Layer up for the fog, and keep your dog on a lead.
Since 1990, California sea lions have made the docks of Pier 39 their own.
The coyotes come back
Coyotes have made a home in the Presidio, Golden Gate Park and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Each coyote family defends its own territory, which can span several miles, and the National Park Service and the Presidio Trust track them; conflicts with dogs usually happen near dens during the spring and summer pupping season, when parts of the Presidio may be closed, or when off-lead dogs chase them.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Alyenaa Buckles · CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia CommonsLands End and the Golden Gate
Lands End is the city's wild north-west corner: a trail along the cliffs with views of the Golden Gate, cypress trees and the ruins of the Sutro Baths, with the Lands End Lookout visitor centre at the trailhead. Crissy Field, the restored shoreline below the Presidio, runs to Fort Point under the bridge, and across the Golden Gate, Muir Woods protects a forest of coast redwoods below Mount Tamalpais.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Ben1152000 · CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia CommonsFeature: the sea lions of Pier 39
A few California sea lions began hauling out on K-Dock at Pier 39 shortly after the Loma Prieta earthquake in October 1989, and by January 1990 they had arrived in large numbers. The pier consulted The Marine Mammal Center, whose experts recommended that the sea lions stay in their new home, and they have been there ever since; their numbers rise and fall with the seasons and the supply of fish, and most of their pups are born in June on the Channel Islands off southern California.
Did you know? The sea lions of Pier 39 hit an all-time record of more than 2,100 animals in May and June of 2024.
Our advice
Our advice: watch the sea lions from the viewing area on the west side of Pier 39, early in the morning before the crowds; walk Lands End at sunset. Never feed or approach coyotes, keep dogs on a lead and away from den areas in spring and summer, and respect seasonal closures in the Presidio.
Why it's on our list
- The coyotes come back
- Lands End and the Golden Gate
- Feature: the sea lions of Pier 39
- Our advice
Location
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