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Beaches and rocky shoreline lie at the base of the coastal bluffs, while their tops provide expansive views of the Pacific coastline. The Coastal Trail extends along the wind-swept coastal bluffs, where some of the most intact natural habitat in the Presidio harbors rare plants adapted to serpentine soil and cool foggy conditions.
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One of three memorials on U.S. soil dedicated to missing service members of World War II, the West Coast Memorial is a curved wall of California granite set in a grove of Monterey pine and cypress. Overlooking the Pacific Ocean, it bears the names of 413 members of the Armed Forces who lost their lives or were buried at sea in the offshore Pacific coastal waters.
Situated near the gun batteries of the coastal bluffs, Fort Scott was established in 1912 to serve as headquarters for the Coastal Artillery Corps of the San Francisco Bay area. Spanish Revival style buildings, the first of this style to be built on the Presidio, characterize the post, and the U-shaped parade ground breaks from traditional quadrangular design. The post was eventually converted to an Army Education Center.
Battery Chamberlin, built near Baker Beach in 1904, was constructed as part of a modernization effort to accommodate the lighter, stronger, more powerful coastal defense weapons developed in the 1880s. Today Battery Chamberlin holds the last 6-inch "disappearing gun" of its type on the West Coast.
Joseph B. Strauss Memorial
Sculpture of bridge architect Joseph B. Strauss.
This fortification was built in the 1870s, to withstand newer and heavier ordinance. You can view the earthen works and brick-lined magazines built to protect large Rodman guns and their ammunition.