Mount Sutro Open Space Reserve

On the slopes of Mount Sutro (see map here), a 900-foot hill in San Francisco California, is a glorious historic forest that is over a hundred years old. It was planted by Adolf Sutro, one of the city’s most colorful characters, and a former Mayor of the city. This 80-acre forest is a remnant of 1100 acres of eucalyptus that once covered most of the western side of the city. If you walk into the forest today, it doesn’t feel like you’re in the heart of the city. Some of the trees are 200 feet tall (nearly as tall as the redwoods of Muir Woods, where the tallest tree is 252 feet). Many are over 100 feet in height. Mt Sutro is squarely in San Francisco’s fog belt, and one of the most ethereal aspects of this forest is watching the fog blow in. In addition to the winter rain, the forest is watered by the summer and fall fog, making it functionally a Cloud Forest. On a foggy day, inside the forest may be the most beautiful place in all San Francisco. (Muddy, but ethereal.)