today
- golden hour
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- sunset
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- blue hour
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- sunrise
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- your hour
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- 30 minutes before sunset
Pick your date: the sunset, the golden hour, the blue hour and your hour at San Francisco, Golden Gate Bridge, in local time.
Times are San Francisco local time (America/Los_Angeles), worked out from the sun’s position for this place (the NOAA method), good to about a minute on a flat horizon. Golden hour is the last hour before sunset; blue hour runs from sunset to the end of civil twilight.

From a quiet cove on the Marin side, the lit bridge climbs into the dusk while the whole city glows back at you across the bay.
In the reel: A man kneels with a ring to a woman on a waterside path beneath the lit Golden Gate Bridge, city lights across the bay, as dusk turns to night under the first stars.
The view is real from Fort Baker in Sausalito, the old Army post on the Marin side, where a waterside path at Horseshoe Cove looks back at the bridge and the city glow. From there the north tower sits close on your right, so the drawing is mirrored; flip the reel if you want them to match. The pier at the cove's edge is where you kneel, with the lit roadway running away toward the far tower.
September and October, when the bridge is fogged in only about 4–5 days a month. Fort Baker often stays sunny when the parks to the west are grey.
The hour: Arrive 30 minutes before sunset: 18:52 on 1 Oct and 18:34 on 13 Oct 2026 (our own calculation). Shoot through civil twilight, to 19:18 and 19:01 respectively, and stay about 45 minutes for the first stars. New moon on 10 Oct 2026 gives the darkest sky.
Avoid: June to August, when evening fog can swallow the bridge 16–18 days a month. The full moon on 25 Oct 2026. Earth Hour in March, when the bridge lights have gone dark before.
The 15th of each month, local time.
| date | sunrise | golden hour | sunset | blue hour ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2026 | 07:18 | 17:31 | 18:31 | 18:58 |
| Nov 2026 | 06:50 | 15:58 | 16:58 | 17:26 |
| Dec 2026 | 07:17 | 15:51 | 16:51 | 17:21 |
| Jan 2027 | 07:23 | 16:14 | 17:14 | 17:43 |
| Feb 2027 | 06:59 | 16:48 | 17:48 | 18:15 |
| Mar 2027 | 07:20 | 18:16 | 19:16 | 19:42 |
| Apr 2027 | 06:34 | 18:45 | 19:45 | 20:12 |
| May 2027 | 05:59 | 19:12 | 20:12 | 20:42 |
| Jun 2027 | 05:47 | 19:33 | 20:33 | 21:04 |
| Jul 2027 | 05:59 | 19:31 | 20:31 | 21:01 |
| Aug 2027 | 06:25 | 19:02 | 20:02 | 20:30 |
| Sep 2027 | 06:51 | 18:17 | 19:17 | 19:43 |
the weekly note: one place and its hour, one story, one tip. a tap in the first mail confirms it.