If You're Going to San Francisco...

With its gracefully suspended single span, spidery bracing cables, and zooming twin towers, the Golden Gate Bridge looks more like a work of abstract art than one of the 20th century's greatest engineering feats. It's possibly the most beautiful, and certainly the most photographed, bridge in the world.

Often half-veiled by the city's trademark rolling fog, San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, named for the strait leading from the Pacific Ocean to San Francisco Bay, spans tidal currents, ocean waves, and battering winds to connect The City by the Bay with the Redwood Empire to the north.

The 1.7-mile bridge (including the approach), which reaches a height of 746 feet, is awesome to cross. But a visit to the bridge is about more than just taking in the panoramic sights of the Marin headlands and the waters. Many travelers spend a portion of their visit to the bridge in Golden Gate National Recreation Area (tel. 415/561-7690; www.nps.gov/goga), a 28-mile urban park that offers prime opportunities for watching the activity on the bridge, swimming, walking the dog, picnicking and jogging along a paved promenade. Birdwatchers should take binoculars to the Presidio, a recent 1,491 acre addition to the park, which is home to more than 200 species of birds.

Quick facts about the Golden Gate Bridge:

The bridge had its 70th birthday in 2007.
It cost $35 million to build when it opened in May 1937.
It is 1 ¾ miles long and took four years to build.
The bridge's color is "International Orange" and was partly chosen for its visibility in the fog; the term Golden Gate refers to the Golden Gate Strait, the entrance to the Bay from the Pacific Ocean.
The poem "The Mighty Task is Done" is inscribed on the bridge and was written by its chief engineer, Joseph B. Strauss.

Getting there: The Golden Gate Bridge (tel. 415/921-5858; 877/229-8655; www.goldengatebridge.org) is located on Highway 101 north. You can catch a Golden Gate transit bus headed toward the bridge every thirty minutes during the day, starting from the Transbay Terminal (Mission and First Streets). It makes stops at Market and Seventh Streets, the Civic Center and along Van Ness Avenue and Lombard Street. If you are driving there from the city, head to Marin's Vista Point, at the northern end of the bridge, and look back on a beautiful view of the foggy, hilly city. For more information on how to get to the bridge, click here.