VIDEO AND PICTURE AND ADVENTURE AT DEVIL'S SLIDE ( PACIFICA ), CA IN THE LATE 1980S

Stairs coming down from abandoned bunker off of Devil's Slide in Pacifica, CA : r/DeathStairs ( Not my photo, it is before I was there because there is more "cliff" on the left side of the stairs than there was when the boys and me climbed them. I guess there isn't anything left of them after the last major earthquake, seems they fell to the rocks and surf below. )

Perched precariously on a coastal bluff in Pacifica, California, the Devil’s Slide Bunker is a haunting reminder of World War II history.

Originally part of the Little Devils Slide Military Reservation, this concrete structure served as a critical triangulation and observation station for the U.S. Army.

​Before the advent of advanced radar, soldiers stationed here used high-powered binoculars to scan the Pacific for enemy Japanese ships, relaying vital coordinates to gun batteries at Fort Funston and the Marin Headlands.

​The site was officially abandoned in 1949 after technological shifts rendered coastal observation posts obsolete. A failed development project in the 1970s led to the excavation of the surrounding earth, leaving the bunker teetering on a narrow 15-foot pedestal of rock.

​Today, the graffiti-covered ruin is a popular hidden gem near the Devil’s Slide Trail. While it sits on private property, its "floating" silhouette remains a must-see landmark for urban explorers and photographers visiting the San Francisco Bay Area.

In the late 1980s I was visiting my sister's family in Pacifica. One day when she and my brother in law had to work I took their two youngest kids "exploring". The road through Devil's Slide was still open then and one could see the bunker on the promontory. I asked the boys about it, Kyle and Mark ( can't remember their ages Kyle was 9 and Mark 7? ) told me they had always wanted to go up to see it but their mom and dad said it was too dangerous. We pulled into the parking area and I saw the decrepit staircase ( bolted into the side of the cliff, concrete steps ) and decided we were going up. There was no outside railing and a step was missing here and there but we finally made it to the top. It was so cool, the view is amazing. It is also quite a feat of construction just getting all that material up there considering heavy lift helicopters didn't exist during WW II. The boys and me explored and chilled but after a while it was time to go. The staircase going up was challenging, going down was horrifying! No outside railing on the staircase, missing steps.....I had ahold of Kyle and Mark by the belt loops of their shorts and "smeared" them along the cliff face while I silently prayed to God to get us all the way down safely. The waves crashing on the rocks below sounded particularly ominous but we finally made it to the parking area ( Thank you God!!! ). To this day I can feel myself getting anxious about going down those stairs. The boys promised not to tell their mom and dad what we did, but during supper Sheila asked what we did that day and Kyle blurted out "We went up to the lookout at Devil's Slide!" Sheila's reaction was almost as scary as coming down those steps.....Good times, good memories.....