Sutro Baths: Envisioning a glorious past

September 9, 12:54 AMSF Travel ExaminerEd Uyeshima

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View from the Cliff House terrace (Photo: Ed Uyeshima)

There’s a fascinating history to the Sutro Baths ruins in the northwestern corner of San Francisco. When Mayor Adolph Sutro opened the baths in 1896, it was the largest privately owned swimming pool complex in the city. It contained seven different pools - one with fresh water and the others with salt water straight from the Pacific Ocean but each at varying temperatures. An elaborate structure of iron, glass and concrete, housed the baths in a small beach inlet adjacent to the Cliff House. Multiple generations of Bay Area residents swam there until the building was destroyed by fire in 1966 after several years of financial struggle.

Nothing remains today but the remnants of a foundation with lots of broken, rusted pipes and abandoned stairways leading symbolically to nowhere. The ruins are now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and are free to all to visit. Just be cautious as you walk along the ridges of the building remains. The parking lot has been recently refurbished, and there are now more places to sit. Visitors from the above parking lot can read signs that describe the history of Sutro Baths starting from its construction through its glamorous heyday and then its declining later years.

Trivia note: The baths are prominently featured in a comic scene in the 1971 cult classic, “Harold and Maude”, one of my favorite movies, in which Harold pretends to assault Maude under the guise of a Vietnam War protester. The charade was played out at the Sutro Baths in order to convince his hawkish military uncle that Harold is unfit for service. Here’s a clip that shows how little the bath ruins have changed in 38 years:

Bud Cort (Harold), Charles Tyner (Uncle Victor) and Ruth Gordon (Maude) in 1971’s “Harold and Maude” (Source: YouTube)

FOR MORE INFO:  History of Sutro Baths -- LOCATION: Point Lobos Avenue to the right of the Cliff House as you head toward the Great Highway.