Great Highway

For the play by August Strindberg, see The Great Highway.

File:San Francisco-Great Highway& Ocean Beach.jpg

The northern end of the Great Highway and Ocean Beach, as seen from Sutro Heights Park

The Great Highway is a road in San Francisco that forms the city's western edge along the Pacific coast. It runs for approximately 3.5 miles (5.6 km) next to Ocean Beach. Its southern end is at Skyline Boulevard (State Route 35) near Lake Merced; it extends to Point Lobos Avenue and the Cliff House at its northern end.

The Great Highway also forms the western border of Golden Gate Park.

For approximately half its length, from Sloat Boulevard to Lincoln Way, the Great Highway is both an expressway and a parallel street. The expressway is built atop a raised berm, which overlays a pre-existing wall built to keep the adjacent area clear from frequent encroachment by sand dunes. Also atop the berm is a gravel jogging path and a cement walking / bicycling path. The parallel street, also named 'Great Highway', is immediately adjacent below and to the east of the expressway, with buildings on its east side. The only access to the upper-level highway is at each end. There are crosswalks with traffic lights along this section to allow pedestrians to reach the beach.

The Dutch Windmill is situated in the north western corner of the park near the intersection of Fulton Street and the Great Highway, and the Murphy Windmill sits in the south western corner near Lincoln Way; both were built to pump water into Golden Gate Park. The N Judah, a San Francisco Municipal Railway streetcar line, ends at Great Highway and Judah, while the L Taraval, another streetcar line, ends two blocks from Great Highway at Wawona and 46th Avenue.

See also

• 49-Mile Scenic Drive
• Ocean Beach Public Policy