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San Mateo County

Pulgas Water Temple

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Places to see

United States

California

San Mateo County

Pulgas Water Temple

Pulgas Water Temple

29 people recommended this place

Recommended by 29 cyclists

Cycling is not permitted at this location

You'll need to dismount and push your bike.

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    Top cycling routes to Pulgas Water Temple

    5.0

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    113

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    1. Redwood City 🌲 Broadway – Peninsula Bike Trail Start loop from Redwood City

    34.3km

    02:13

    400m

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

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    Intermediate

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

    Intermediate

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

    Intermediate

    Tips

    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

      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

        September 17, 2022

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

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          Elevation 70 m

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          Friday 3 October

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          Max wind speed: 20.0 km/h

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          Location: San Mateo County, California, United States

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