Hippie Tree
Everything you need to know about Hippie Tree – the best view of San Francisco Bay.
High above San Francisco Bay, beyond the Golden Gate Bridge, stands an ancient Eucalyptus known by the locals as Hippie Tree. Bearing two swings with the best view in the Bay area, Hippie Tree is nestled on a cliff in the bayside small town of Tiburon. After a drive through a neighborhood and short climb up the fire road, you’ll find an unreal panoramic view of San Francisco Bay.
Maybe it’s the unpolished beauty, or the secluded nature of the spot, but Hippie Tree has the familiarity of that secret place you and your high school friends would go to get away. The views, however, were nothing I could ever compare to. While I’d heard rumors of the spot in the past, I’d never tried to make the trek before. On our recent trip to San Francisco, we set out to find this magical view. What we found, I never could have expected.
Want to make Hippie Tree and San Francisco part of a California road trip? Check out our guide to our favorite road trip in the world – California Pacific Coast Highway 1
While part of me wants to keep this gem to myself, moments like these are meant to be shared. So without further ado, here’s everything you need to know about visiting Hippie Tree.
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Getting to Hippie Tree:
In Marin county, just north of the Golden Gate bridge you’ll find the most adorable Bayside town you’ve ever laid eyes on – Tiburon. From Tiburon Blvd take Gilmartin Drive. There’s a small parallel street parking area near 100 Gilmartin Drive. There’s only space for a few cars, so keep in mind that if it’s fully occupied you’ll have to find another spot farther away or come back another time.
After parking, you’ll walk up the street a bit to find the entrance to the fire road. From there it’s just a quick walk up to the Hippie Tree. Yes, really that easy. It even sounds a little sketch, but I can assure you this area is open to the public.
Despite being a pretty well kept secret, you can navigate most of the way to Hippie Tree with Google Maps. Just search for “Hippie Tree” or 100 Gilmartin Drive in Tiburon, California.
Learn more about visiting Tiburon, one of our favorite Northern California getaways – The Ultimate Guide to Tiburon
What you should know:
- Gilmartin is a very steep road, and there’s only a small street parking area available. This means you’ll need to parallel park on a very steep road. Choose your driver carefully.
- To that end, be prepared for a steep walk up to Hippie Tree. While I definitely wouldn’t call this a hike, it does require a pretty steep 5-minute walk.
- Last, but most importantly: this is a neighborhood – an expensive one, sure, but a neighborhood with homes and families all the same. Please be respectful with noise, driveways, parking restrictions – you get the idea. It just takes one bad egg to cause a ruckus. When neighbors complain beautiful gems like this can go away. Leave no trace!
When to visit Hippie Tree:
I’d venture to say any time would be worth a visit. However, keep in mind there is no parking allowed on the street overnight between 9 PM and 5 AM. Usually not a big deal, but this may come into play if you were hoping for a sunrise or sunset shot.
While this is a relatively hidden gem, you may want to avoid obvious high traffic times if you want the place to yourself. We went around 6 PM on a Saturday and there were two other groups there. Still, nothing compared to other public viewing spots in the Bay area where you’ll find hundreds on any given Saturday, but if you stopped by in the morning on a weekday you’d be less likely to have to share the view.
Ready to take your swing on Hippie Tree? Let me know how your adventures went in the comments below!
