San Francisco - Golden Gate Park

Golden Gate Park is 3mi/5km long, 0.5mi/800m wide and occupies 1,017 acres/4.1sq.km. It is San Francisco's "lungs", the city itself having only one or two small parks. Before development began in 1871 this was an area of arid dunes, and it was only with the greatest difficulty that what was then the largest man-made park in the world was brought to its present appearance.

Must-see attractions nearby:

Palace of the Legion of Honor

Palace of Fine Arts

The credit for this lies chiefly with one man, John McLaren, Park Commissioner for 56 years from 1887 to 1943.

Nowadays visitors to the park enjoy a grand network of footpaths and cycle tracks, more than 5,000 different kinds of plants and dozens of species of trees, several lakes, bridle-paths, a buffalo paddock, three museums, a Japanese tea garden, greenhouses, a botanical garden and considerably more besides.

Strolling through Golden Gate Park is a delight, but very time consuming. Bear in mind also that after 3 p.m. when the mist tends to come rolling in from the Pacific, the park can suddenly seem a less welcoming place.

Golden Gate Park is one of those places that can just as easily take up a couple of hours as a couple of days. People come here regularly to walk or bike and bike rentals are available. This can be a good way to explore the park, rather than trying to do everything on foot.

Address: Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, Fort Mason Building 201, San Francisco, CA 94123, United States
Phone: 1 (415) 561-3000, Fax: 1 (415) 561-3003

Transit: Buses: 5, 7, 21, 71, 72.