Baker Beach Sand Ladder

This is my new favorite beach in the Bay Area. A nice walk down many steps to a beautiful beach just beneath the Golden Gate Bridge. Relatively clean beach (especially clean for an SF beach) that is dog friendly and generally less populated than other more well known beaches. On a hot San Francisco day you can join the locals and go nude or topless. Picturesque and lovely.

Probably the best thing you can add to any SF workout. The infamous SAND STAIRS. I was lucky enough to live in close proximity to Baker Beach and would include them into my runs around the area. You are always greeted at the base by naked dudes chilling where the public and tourists flock even though there is whole beach to be nude on. It just adds a hilarious atmosphere and gives you a quick chuckle before the punishment that lies ahead. Half buried logs and humbling sand add to a perfect heart breaking, air gulping workout. Link these with the trail and stairs to Immigrant Point (apparently named 1000 Step Trail, I never counted) you will be dead or wish you were. Cool down and go get all the pizza and wine, you’ve earned it.

This was a hard workout. The stairs (logs) are unevenly spaced which makes this climb much harder than normal stairs as I had to vary the height at which I lifted my legs on each step. About halfway up, the steepness lessens a little but any relief is quickly offset by the fact that the stairs in this section are completely buried in sand… so you are basically running in sand with already worn out legs.
The peak was the most fun as the steps allowed for a bounding sprint to the end (where I proceeded to hunch over gasping for air after each of my 15 ascents).
The pictures don’t do the steepness justice as I am in good shape and by the third ascent, I began asking myself why am I doing this and had thoughts of stopping early.
Most interesting part of the run we’re the 3 – 4 naked guys at the bottom of the stairs who counted my laps and cheered me on to keep going. Kind of creepy at first but by the end, any encouragement was welcome.

The stairs has a Unilocal page? Well then, I’m not sure how to fully grade the stairs but if you’re looking for a work out and need to work on legs, here’s your resolution. Give your best going up once and you’ll probably rethink why on earth you gave this a chance in the first place.
The nude beach is directly in front of the stairs so don’t act surprised. Most of the sun bathers are older gentlemem… unless you like that kinda thing…

When you want to workout your legs and lungs, just come here. The stairs lead from the road to the beach, so you get amazing views as you are working out.

Located by Battery Chamberlain with convenient parking at the lower Baker Beach parking lot in the Presidio. The stairs are labelled «Sand Ladder» as it resembles a fire ladder. It’s part of the Pacific Coast Trail that winds through the Presidio.
Great quad training. Huffing and puffing guaranteed on the way up. Thank goodness we came down from a different path.
Nudist alert! At the bottom of the stairs you can expect to find a bunch of nudists sun bathing on the beach.
Spectacular views of Sea Cliff neighborhood and the channel emptying into the glistening Pacific Ocean.

came here to lay on a blanket in the sand and watch the day go by. nice beach cool that you can be nude even though i never dun that. i just dont like the annoying dogs people bring and let run wild with no leash

If you’ve ever seen «Rocky», think of Sly Stallone running up that huge flight of stairs in Philly. Now replace those concrete stairs with these sand stairs. Boom, you have yourself a killer workout.
A good way to get those quads in shape. Great views. You may want to skip the, um, «views» on the north end of the beach, though. ..

Not sure I should technically be reviewing this, since I’m not an exerciser and I didn’t «do» the sand ladder for the workout (though I sure as heck got one). I’m not what you’d call in shape, though I do walk 30 minutes a day if I can. Still, walking = horizontal for me in the Midwest in my cushy business park.
We wanted to stop at Baker Beach for a view of the Golden Gate Bridge and to relax for a while, maybe snicker at some nude bathers. There were no nude bathers, alas (too chilly, I think) — but we decided it would be fun to go down these sand stairs, not thinking that we’d have to go back up…
It was awful! I had to stop a few times. But at least now I can say that I did it. I’ve actually had worse, but it wasn’t my idea of fun! But hey, they’re a unique thing and I probably burned more calories by taking them. So 3 stars!

As much as my body wants to give them 1 star after climbing to the top, the sand stairs are the pinnacle of a workout challenge. My fiancé and I made Baker Beach part of our running path when we first moved to the area, and I naively suggested that we run up the stairs when we stumbled across them. Now, I am decently fit, but I was not prepared for the intensity of these stairs (ladder is approaching a better name). Between the sand, hearty incline, and the nearly 300 stairs, had to stop a handful of times to catch my breath and let my legs stop burning, but I made it. The next run, I made it to the top without stopping. I am not sure you need to run up them to get an exercise — walking seems to do it just fine, but it could be a really good work out goal. My guess, if you can jog up these while having a light chit chat, you’re ready for the ironman.

So I took my sister here for the first time and before we arrived; «ooo running up and down stairs seems like a great workout!» Upon looking up at what lie before us aka «the great wall of Baker Beach» and the first 5 stairs, «how is running up these possible? i can barely walk, this is going to be rough»
Great challenge and location to get a good workout in! Running up them is possible, yet walking up is equally as challenging. But the end result is a calf/​quad burn like no other!

If you wanna see if youre fit, come here.
The sand stairs at baker beach will kick your butt. I bet you will stop at least once.
i went with my bf. we’re used to doing stairs at cataract trail and figured this would be easy. it doesnt matter if you go on the treadmill for an hour everyday. this set of stairs will make you huff and puff and gasp for air.
when you make it to the top, cross over and theres another trail of stairs. woohoo! you can immediately feel the burn in your legs. as i was walking back down to the sand stairs, i noticed on the right side, there’s another set of stairs going down 1.4 miles to a beautiful secluded beach area.
total time round trip climbing up and down stairs 1.5 hours for 4 miles. not bad.
come here during the week and it’s not so crowded. it can get pretty chilly but remember, after running up the stairs, you will be sweaty and hot.
Bring a camera if you do decide to go to the secluded beach area.

If you like your legs to burn… come here.
Slippery when wet (and we’re talking the logs not Bön Jovi’s album) Barefoot is the way to go.
If you like to get out of the gym and move you @ss outdoors, this, my friends, is a great spot to challenge yourself.
Through the years, I have hit this place when I am feeling it. And today I was feeling it –My friend is training for a marathon so I told him to join me here early a.m. He’s extremely fit but I laughed as he panted and complained by the time we were done. ;)
Best to avoid on the weekends, especially when the weather is clear as there are waaaay too many things called people up in your way.
And, if you’re lucky, you might miss the guy who likes to do naked cartwheels.

5 stars for being unique and one of those little things that adds character to the GG recreation area as well as those who climb them.
3 stars because there are not enough signs warning you about the potential naked people that hang out at the beach at the bottom.

Dang, these sand stairs are serious. Kind of amazing though — logs held together that form stairs. Intense!

Desperate to find «the perfect» place to watch the sunset, we pulled over (thinking we were at the old gun battery ½ mile away), jumped out of the car and ran down the Sand Stairs. Halfway down, we witnessed a beautiful sunset and watched the sky turn colors (PINK!) over the Golden Gate Bridge. Then we hiked down to the beach and played in the sea foam. Hiking back up the stairs made me feel healthy and successful. Note: the Sand Stairs are covered with sand and aren’t an easy climb, up or down. So, inaccessible for anyone with mobility problems or fear of heights.

Haha! I didn’t know the stairs at Baker Beach had it’s very own listing?
Two words: DO IT!

Don’t be a weenie about the schmekel-​show on Baker Beach. It’s a penis. No big deal. You don’t need to go near it. And besides, this is San Francisco, not Dallas. We have a celebrated culture event/​street festival/S&M exhibition midday, open to children, in our downtown. Nude beach should be well within your comfort zone here people!
The Sand Ladder at Baker Beach is a sure bet to light up your legs and make you slow your roll. I don’t care how fit you are, you can get a challenge out of the ladder. It hurts. Some days it hurts a lot. But after a few weeks of incorporating it into your route, you’ll be able to keep a pretty consistent pace from the beach right into the ladder. Still hurts, but it makes you feel like a monster. Serious alpha experience.
The ladder is a collection of timbers about 8 feet wide (less?) and with a diameter of maybe 4 inches. They’re attached to one another with cables, and the sand fills in behind/​around the timbers to create a stair tread of sorts. Running up the ladder is a challenge requiring good focus (depending how fast you run), especially since some of the stairs aren’t well-​filled with sand, and you often have to step accurately on the timbers. If I crank up (and better still, down) the ladder, I get a real good case of that stair-​induced tunnel vision… talk about a runner’s high; that’s the zone!
The Lyon St. stairs barely qualify as a challenge when compared to the sand stairs at Baker Beach. In fact, I’d say they’re an equal challenge to the stairs from Levi’s Plaza to Coit Tower, despite being somewhat shorter.

The best way down to the beach for sure.
And yes, there are naked people. Everywhere.
If it’s a hot day, wear something on your feet… the sand on the ladder heats up to about a million degrees.
And bring your tolerance for some of the weirdness at the bottom.

I’m a San Francisco native who has come to Baker Beach many times over the years, but it wasn’t until last year that I came upon the sand ladder. This is no ordinary hill climb, nor it is an ordinary set of stairs. The sand ladder is built into the dunes and travels from the north end of the beach up to Lincoln, with logs held together with cables as the steps. On a good day, the sand is a little damp and sticks together well enough to allow a relatively easy climb up the steps. They start steep at the beach end and end much more leveled out as you get to Lincoln. On a dry day, however, the sand is loose and not only gets in your shoes better but makes it a much more difficult trek. The difficulty is made up for in the view, which is fabulous on a clear day.
If you are really up for a challenge, conquer the Baker Beach Sand Ladder as part of the Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon, in which the ladder falls nearly at the end of the race.