Waking up on my friend’s dorm room floor Sunday morning I was both excited and exhausted. That day we had planned to go to the Sutro Baths, something he had showed me the night before, and a true monument to human achievement and its eventual decay.
Created in 1896 the Sutro Baths of western San Francisco were at the time the world’s largest swimming pool establishment. Originally owned by entrepreneur and former San Francisco mayor, Adolph Sutro, the baths stayed in commission until 1966 when they were abandoned. Today just the shell stands of the original structure, but take it from a first hand observer, the ruins are awe inspiring in their own right. The ruins include seven different swimming pools, six salt water and one fresh, varying in temperature and depth. Nestled on the coast of the Pacific Ocean the Baths are a breathtaking spectacle. Walking the ruins on a perfect spring day one cannot help but be overwhelmed by the sensory overload of ocean juxtaposed against the mesmerizingly still waters of the baths. I strongly advice visiting the baths. They are in my opinion one of the hidden treasures of the West Coast.
