Visited Sutro Baths
February 21, 2011 Filed in: San Francisco
Just below the Cliff House, you can walk down to see the ruins of what used to be Sutro Baths. Sutro Baths was a large indoor pool complex built in the late 1800’s. When it was opened in 1896, it was the world’s largest swimming pool establishment.
It was built by former mayor Adolph Sutro, who also had an estate on Sutro Heights. A few years ago, J and I had considered Sutro Heights as a possible site for our wedding.
We started walking down to the bathhouse site from the Cliff house area.
We found this sign that warned of potential danger.
The bathhouse was in the process of being demolished in 1966 when it burned down, and the ruins have been there ever since. Even though these ruins have only been around for half a century, they remind me of many ancient ruins I have seen in the past.
We walked out onto the ruins. Basically all that’s left of the building is the borders, and we just walked on top of them. The building was adjacent to the ocean which used to (during high tide) cycle water in and out of the bathhouse.
One of the best things is that you can stand out and just stare at the ocean and watch the waves and feel the breeze.
J took advantage of some natural backlighting to get a few awesome silhouettes.
There is a cave nearby, which used to be where they housed a pump that cycled the water during low tide.
We went into the cave and walked to the other end of it.
Here’s another warning sign. This one featured a person falling from the cliffs.
I just thought it was so cool that you can get so close to the ocean here and look out at the rock formations. The crashing of the waves was beautiful.
I thought this was a nice place to visit once, but I don’t feel an overwhelming desire to come back. I’m not sure what they would do, but I get the sense that the National Park Service does not do much to maintain the place and there’s only one sign that talks about the history of the bathhouse.
If you happen to be eating at the Cliff House or visiting the area, it’s worth checking out, but in my opinion, there’s no need to make a special trip.
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