20 Attractions to Explore Near Bay Area Discovery Museum

Battery Spencer is a historic concrete military battery that today serves as an overlook above the Golden Gate Bridge and offers iconic and stunning views and photo opportunities. Photos taken of the Golden Gate Bridge from Battery Spencer have been some of the most iconic out there and featured on prints, postcards, and posters. The Battery was originally a gun battery from 1897 to 1942 and was named for a Revolutionary War hero.

Kirby Cove is a small bayside park with trails and a campground where you can absorb incredible views of San Francisco from across the Golden Gate. It offers a sandy beach, over a mile of trails across the forested hillside, accommodating campsites, and an unforgettable experience in nature.

One of the longest and tallest suspension bridge in the world, and one which definitely is most photographed.

The Marin Headlands is a hilly peninsula at the southernmost end of Marin County, California, United States, located just north of San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge, which connects the two counties and peninsulas. The entire area is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The Headlands are famous for their views of the Bay Area, especially of the Golden Gate Bridge.

This small stretch of sand on the southwest side of the Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most beautiful places in California with the massive rocks, waves crashing on the sand, and the staggering Golden Gate Bridge providing a backdrop to it all. It’s incredibly photogenic, offering spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean and the Marin Headlands.

Headlands Center for the Arts provides an unparalleled environment for the creative process and the development of new work and ideas. It hosts an internationally recognized artist-in-residence program, and interdisciplinary public programs. It is situated in a campus of artist-renovated military buildings in the Marin Headlands.

The Walt Disney Family Museum is one of the Bay Area’s most inspirational venues, welcoming visitors to an historic building that reveals 40,000 square feet of imagination, which features the life and legacy of Walt Disney. It features the newest technology and historic materials and artifacts to bring Disney’s achievements to life, with interactive galleries that include early drawings and animation, movies, music, listening stations, and a 12-foot diameter model of Disneyland.

The Wave Organ is a wave-activated acoustic sculpture located on a jetty in the San Francisco Bay. There is a panoramic view of the city across the narrow channel into the St. Francis and Golden Gate yacht clubs, bounded on the left by the Fort Mason piers and to the right by a towering eucalyptus grove bordering Crissy Field. The park and trail to it are wheelchair accessible, with the trailhead at the Marina Green park.

This is a monumental structure originally constructed for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in order to exhibit works of art presented there. Situated in the Marina District of San Francisco, California. In addition to hosting art exhibitions, it remains a popular attraction for tourists and locals.

This is a public beach on the peninsula of San Francisco. Large waves, undertow and rip currents make the beach unsafe for swimming, but it provides panoramic views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Marin Headlands and Lands End. You can fish or check out the shorelife along the beach and rocky shoreline. Restrooms and picnic tables are nearby.

The Pacific Marine Mammal Center Rescues, Rehabilitates And Releases Marine Mammals And Inspires Ocean Stewardship Through Research, Education And Collaboration.It also serves as a center for environmental research and education regarding marine mammals, namely cetaceans, pinnipeds, otters and sirenians.

Developed with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison, and a federal prison that seized operations in the 1960s. Today the small island is open for tours.

Golden Gate National Recreation Area is famous for its iconic structures, the largest collection of historic buildings in any national park and the 146 kilometers of San Francisco Bay and Pacific Ocean shoreline that gives a home to some of the 2,458 plants and animal species in the urban park. It is also one of the largest urban parks in the world, with a size two-and-a-half times that of the consolidated city and county of San Francisco.

Point Bonita Lighthouse is out on the rocky point on the north side of the entrance to San Francisco Bay.The light is still actively used to warn approaching ships, but during the day the anyone can visit and walk around the outside of it. The lighthouse is accessible to the public during limited hours on Sundays and Mondays, as well as on ranger-led interpretive sunset hikes, which requires a sign-up. Access to the bridge is barred at other times by a metal door on the shore end of the tunnel.

The Golden Gate National Recreation Area is one of the largest urban national parks in the world. The total park area is 75,398 acres of land and water. Approximately 28 miles of coastline lie within its boundaries. It is nearly two and one-half times the size of San Francisco.The park is as diverse as it is expansive; it contains famous tourist attractions such as Muir Woods National Monument, Alcatraz, and the Presidio of San Francisco.

China Beach is in a tiny cove tucked between Lands End and Baker Beach in the Sea Cliff neighborhood of San Francisco. It is protected by rock walls on both sides creating an area that once was a camp for Chinese fishermen, hence the name.It was once used as a campsite for Chinese fishermen. Swimming is not safe at China Beach because of many possible dangers and the lack of lifeguards in the area.

The San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is located in San Francisco, California, United States. The park includes a fleet of historic vessels, a visitor center, a maritime museum, and a library/research facility.

Aquatic Park Historic District is a National Historic Landmark and building complex on the San Francisco Bay waterfront within San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. The district includes a beach, bathhouse, municipal pier, restrooms, concessions stand, stadia, and two speaker towers.

Hyde Street Pier is home to the fleet of historic landmark vessels in the collection of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, which is a unit of the National Park System. For a modest admission fee, visitors can board this fleet of turn-of-century historic ships.

A majestic public square with shops and restaurants and a 5-star hotel in the Marina area of San Francisco, California. A portion of the area was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 as Pioneer Woolen Mills and D. Ghirardelli Company. ​​​​​​​The square once featured over 40 specialty shops and restaurants. Some of the original shops and restaurants still occupy the square.