LAND'S END BEACH

San Francisco may be the only place in the country where it's possible to get away from your office and spend your lunch break basking in the sun without wearing a stitch of clothes before returning to the work grind. From Civic Center, visitors drive to the end of Geary Boulevard and then walk down a short path to enjoy one of The City's best kept secrets: a small beach that features a mix of sand and rocks, plus some of the Bay Area's most spectacular views. Even on hot days, there may be fewer than 10 persons present.

Part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA), which allows clothing-optional usage on this beach, as long as no one complains and you don't touch anyone. Rangers sometimes visit the area on foot and horseback, and have made arrests for sexual activity on the beach and in the bushes off the trail.

Follow Geary Boulevard to the end, then park in the dirt lot up the road from the Cliff House. Take the trail at the far end of the lot. About 100 yards past a bench and some trashcans, the path narrows and bends, rises, and falls, eventually becoming the width of a road. Don't take the road to the right, which leads to a golf course. Just past another bench, as the trail turns right, go left toward a group of dead trees where you will see a stairway and a "Dogs must be leashed" sign. Descend and head left to another stairway, which leads to a 100-foot walk to the cove. Or, instead, take the service road below the El Camino del Mar parking lot 1/4 mile until you reach a bench, then follow the trail there. It's eroded in a few places. At the end you'll have to scramble over rocks.

From the bottom of the trail, walk left (west) until you come to some nice sunbathing nooks."There are rocks for sunbathing but there are also patches of sand away from where you enter the beach," says beach regular Joseph Friday. The wind can come up without warning, so bring a windbreak or, like many visitors, go ahead and assemble the rocks on the beach to make your own windbreak.

During the hottest days in the summer, the 1/4-mile long cove gets up to 30 users, but earlier in the year, one visitor found just six nudes, all men, on the sand. Visitation varies from day to day: one time, 80 percent of the crowd may be gay males; the next day, it could be more varied.

The walk down is fairly long; random "sex patrols" by rangers; reports of drug use; public sex on trails and nearby; fog and wind; rocky; swimming not allowed; trails other than main one are unsafe, may be closed, and/or have poison oak.

NORTH BAKER BEACH

Recommended! After years of relative calm on the sands of beautiful Baker Beach, park police and rangers have been cracking down on everything from sex on the sand to possession of glass bottles, drug use, and public urination, according to regular visitor Paul Jung. "Don't get me wrong, it's not a police state," says Jung, a plasma TV installer who lives just 10 minutes from the site. "But they've been tightening their grip more." Since November, witnesses report, a number of visitors have been escorted off the sand by law enforcement. So far in 2009, though, police have apparently been issuing warnings to those who are being asked to leave. Just one citation for sexual activity was written in April and none in May or early June, according to officials. Another trend: the nation's soaring unemployment rate appears to be responsible for sending more young people onto the beach, especially on weekdays. Explains a visitor: "It's been a surprise! The newcomers have even been joining in volleyball games. We welcome all players."

Part of the GGNRA. See Land's End entry for policy.

Take the 29 Sunset bus or go north on 25th Avenue to Lincoln Boulevard. Turn right and take the second left onto Bowley Street. Follow Bowley to Gibson Road, turn right, and follow Gibson to the east parking lot. Head right on the beach to the nude area, which starts at the brown and yellow "Hazardous surf, undertow, swim at your own risk" sign. Note: some motorcycles in the lot have been vandalized. Instead of parking in a car space (which angers car owners), a regular suggests people "park their motorcycles in the bicycle area near the lot's fence." Look for motorcycles parked next to a "no parking" sign, which actually refers to car parking only.

Long and narrow, with several tide pools at the north end (accessible only during low tide, located around the big rocks at the northern tip). Soil and greenery from part of the hillside next to the beach were recently dug up and, as part of a pollution control project, removed. "I miss the ice plants," says Jung, "plus they were great for preventing erosion."

Though there are usually more men present than women, at Baker you'll find a walking, talking, and baking-in-the-sun smorgasbord of humanity, ranging from lawyers without either briefcases or swimsuits to homeless people. "It's like the cantina in the first Star Wars," says a regular user. Former Baker veteran Ray Brokowski agrees."You'll see young people, older types, men, women, Bay Area residents, tourists, gays, and straights.”

Increased reports of overt sexual behavior (the most recent citation was issued in the beach bathroom; trouble has also been reported near middle Baker, where the nude area begins); more visits by rangers this year, parking lots fill quickly; fog; wind; a few gawkers (especially in the afternoon on the rocks above the beach); large crowds on hot days; sand may be very hot; hazardous waves.

GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE BEACH

Golden Gate Bridge Beach is reported to be better than ever this year, with cleaned up, easier to use trails. The paths had been closed last season, awaiting removal of contaminated soil. In the wake of the project's completion, visitors are streaming onto the mostly gay enclave that's also known as Nasty Boy Beach and by its real name, Marshall's Beach. Now that the way down has been fixed, you'll probably also notice a smattering of women, straight couples, children, and fishermen spread out along the shoreline. "It's really nice to walk in the water," says a woman. "In low tide, you can sometimes go out 150 feet." But don't come here if you want privacy: dozens to hundreds of users show up on the hottest days.

Part of the GGNRA.

The old way to get to the beach was by going to North Baker Beach, parking in the main lot, and walking north along Lincoln Boulevard, passing the sand ladder that leads to North Baker. Just north of the ladder trail, look for a dirt road with a gate, leading to Battery Crosby. Follow it, then hike up the trail immediately on the left (south) side of the old fort to the top of the bluff. Take the trail straight west as it goes downhill toward the ocean, while wearing, if possible, long sleeves and pants to protect against poison oak. At a small, crumbling, concrete bulkhead, the trail goes north along the bluffs and eventually down a shorter, steeper section with small steps cut into the gully. The main path ends at the south end of Golden Gate Bridge Beach. But now there's a new starting point just west of Langdon Court, where there are some parking lots, across Lincoln Boulevard from Fort Winfield Scott. The new trail leading down from the Lincoln area even has some wooden steps and railings.

Three adjacent rocky coves located below Fort Scott make up this postcard-like setting, with stunning views of the Golden Gate Bridge. Until it was recently improved, the main beach trail was slippery, heavily eroded, and dangerous, especially in spring and winter.

Most visitors take their suits off, while joining up to 100 or more other naked people on warm, summer weekends. On the very hottest days, expect 300 bare bodies. During the week, a few dozen users is more commonplace. "I had to stop going there because it was such a gay pickup scene," said one visitor a few years ago. "On weekends, you feel like a piece of meat on display." Now, though, the crowd is more varied.

Too many people jammed into too little space; not enough sand; garbage; wind and fog; unsafe swimming conditions; muddy cliff trails, and sex on the beach.

FORT FUNSTON BEACH

Known mostly as a "dog beach," Fort Funston, which is south of Ocean Beach, also attracts hang gliders and, when it's warm enough and no rangers are around, a handful of naked sunbathers hidden away between the sand dunes on the shoreline. GGNRA rangers only hand out a few citations a year for nudity here, so, if you are discreet, your chances of harassment are low. But remember, if anybody complains, suit up quickly or you could be rousted.

Part of the GGNRA, which issues citations if rangers see you nude or receive complaints.

From San Francisco, head west to Ocean Beach, then go south on the Great Highway. After Sloat Boulevard, the road goes uphill. From there, curve right onto Skyline Boulevard, go past one stoplight, and look for signs for Funston on the right. Turn into the public lot and find a space near the west side. At the southwest end, take the sandy steps to the beach, turn right, and walk to the dunes. Find a spot as far as possible from the parking lot. Do not go nude here on the weekends, and if you don't like dogs, go elsewhere.

Fluffy, soft sand dunes where you can find shelter from the wind and fashion your own nude beach.

As you exit your car in the lot, the first thing you'll notice are all the dogs. Funston is a virtual gathering place for the pooches and their human pals. Hang gliders from a nearby glider port and horseback riders from a local rental stable are other common sights. A few naturists sometimes use the beach on weekdays.

Lack of tolerance by rangers; privacy problems on weekends; crowded parking lot on warm days; fog; rough water; may be seen from overhead by hang gliders; roaming, sand-kicking dogs.