Entry No. 35 — the San Francisco file — filed under: optics

Camera Obscura at Lands End

A giant camera-shaped wooden building ('duck architecture') on the cliffs beside the old Cliff House, still projecting a live 360-degree panorama of the Pacific and Seal Rocks onto a curved viewing disc inside via a slowly rotating hood — one of the last working camera obscuras in the U.S., in near-continuous operation since 1946 (modified to look like a camera in 1957).

The move: Time it for late-afternoon light, step into the darkened room together, and watch waves and gulls sweep silently across the projection table in real time.

• 📍 Outer Richmond / Lands End
• 💸 $
• ⚡ Up for anything
• 🌗 Indoors

Where: 1096 Point Lobos Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94121

Hours: Added 2026-07-20 — confirm current hours before you go.

Plan a visit & invite your people →

Further reading: sfchronicle.com · nps.gov

last checked: 2026-07-20