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Natural Monuments

Pulgas Water Temple

Natural Monuments

Pulgas Water Temple

Highlight • Monument

Pulgas Water Temple

Name: Pulgas Water Temple
Rating: 2

Recommended by 29 cyclists

Cycling is not permitted at this location

You'll need to dismount and push your bike.

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Location: San Mateo County, California, United States

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Top cycling routes to Pulgas Water Temple

5.0

(3)

140

riders

1. Old La Honda Road – Kings Mountain Road loop from Hillsdale

105km

07:09

1,790m

Hard bike ride. Very good fitness required. Mostly paved surfaces. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Hard

4.7

(3)

143

riders

2. Rossotti's Alpine Inn – Portola Road loop from Barron Park

68.3km

04:20

750m

Hard bike ride. Very good fitness required. Mostly paved surfaces. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Hard

5.0

(1)

108

riders

3. Pulgas Water Temple – Woodside Store Historic Site loop from Emerald Lake Hills

31.6km

01:59

340m

Moderate bike ride. Good fitness required. Mostly paved surfaces. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Moderate

Tips

🕊️ 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒓

August 16, 2016

San Francisco built Pulgas Water Temple as a monument to the engineering marvel that brought Hetch Hetchy water more than 160 miles across California from Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the Bay Area. The Hetch Hetchy Project took 24 years to build through the Great Depression at a cost of $102 million.
On October 28, 1934, the roar of Hetch Hetchy mountain water greeted everyone gathered at Pulgas Water Temple to celebrate its arrival. With vivid memories of the fire that had raged after the Great Earthquake of 1906, the city rejoiced in its new secure, plentiful supply of high quality drinking water. The frieze above the columns expresses the city’s relief: “I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people.”
Pulgas Water Temple was designed in the Beaux Arts style by William Merchant, a San Francisco architect trained by Bernard Maybeck. Merchant’s design featured fluted columns and Corinthian capitals to reflect the architecture of ancient Greeks and Romans, whose engineering methods were used to build the new water system. Artist and master stone carver Albert Bernasconi brought Merchant’s drawings to life.
Pulgas Water Temple is located about one-half mile south of the Cañada Road trailhead.
Open free to bikers & pedestrians every day, car parking opens only M-F 9-4
sfwater.org/index.aspx?page=93
Biketrail with more highlights and annotated photos at komoot.com/tour/11413421

🕊️ 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒓

November 23, 2020

Interesting part of the San Francisco drinking water system, celebrating the water that travels most of the distance from the Sierra Nevada's Hetch Hetchy Reservoir by gravity

Nitram X2

September 17, 2022

a nice place to fill up your water bottle and relax a few minutes

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Details

Informations

Elevation 70 m

Weather

Today

Tuesday 18 November

16°C

9°C

0 %

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Max wind speed: 10.0 km/h

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Location: San Mateo County, California, United States

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Old County Rd bike route

Pulgas Water Temple

1. Old La Honda Road – Kings Mountain Road loop from Hillsdale

2. Rossotti's Alpine Inn – Portola Road loop from Barron Park

3. Pulgas Water Temple – Woodside Store Historic Site loop from Emerald Lake Hills

Other Popular Places to Check Out

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