Afoot and Afield: San Francisco Bay Area. David Weintraub

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      Walk southeast down a set of wooden steps and after several hundred feet join the Ecology Trail, a wide, dirt path, by turning left. An outcrop of serpentine rock in the midst of a grassy, wildflower-filled meadow is right, behind a fence, in an area that is being restored.

      The trail skirts Inspiration Point and descends on a gentle grade. At a junction with a trail heading right, you continue straight, now in forest. Several unofficial trails branch right and left; ignore them. Soon the red brick buildings of the Presidio’s Main Post are visible ahead. Now on a paved path, you descend to a gate, and pass it on the left. With Pershing Hall on your left, you follow a sidewalk to Moraga Ave., which you cross. A sidewalk along Funston Ave. takes you past part of Officers Row, built in 1862 to house commissioned officers and their families.

      Presidio Flora

      Grasslands are a threatened ecosystem, and this serpentine grassland is unique in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Serpentine soil, high in magnesium and low in calcium, is toxic to many plants, but some have adapted to it, including ones that are rare, threatened, or endangered.

      Among the wildflowers that grow beside the trail are goldfields, coastal tidytips, California buttercups, blue-eyed grass, and California poppies.

      At the corner of Funston Ave. and Presidio Blvd., get on the left side of Presidio and follow the sidewalk gently downhill to a crosswalk just past Barnard Ave. Turn right, cross Presidio, and then follow a paved path through a corridor of eucalyptus trees and berry vines. A footbridge, built around 1865, takes you over a watercourse. When you reach MacArthur Ave., cross it and continue on Lovers’ Lane, a paved path that is part of the Ecology Trail.

      You walk moderately uphill, past stands of Monterey cypress and eucalyptus. At the intersection of Liggett Ave. and Clarke St., you continue straight, now on a sidewalk. Passing a row of brick houses, you turn right onto a dirt path, which almost immediately merges with another coming sharply from the left. Now you pass a fenced area that has been planted with trees, and soon reach a four-way junction, not shown on the park map.

      Here you turn right and descend over loose sand to a fork, where you bear right. With Paul Goode Field on your right, you come to a large dirt parking area and a junction with a trail going left. Turn right, cross the parking area, and then follow a trail past some white buildings with red roofs. The trail bends left and descends steeply into forest.

      Rare, threatened, or endangered plants are found in the Presidio, and, at the time of research, there was a controversial plan in the works to remove some of the Presidio’s planted trees, such as eucalyptus, Monterey pine, and Monterey cypress, and to restore the original dune habitat.