Walking San Francisco

DIFFICULTY: Moderate—no great hills, but it’s a long, indirect route through a huge park.

PARKING: Street parking is easier to find on weekdays than on weekends. The underground lot by the de Young Museum is reached via the Eighth Ave. entrance, on the north side of the park.

Golden Gate Park is a celebration of nature—only there’s really nothing natural about it. The 1,000-acre urban parkland, among the nation’s largest, is a series of groves, gardens, and lakes, all seeded, shaped, and constructed by human hands and machinery. When the city set aside the land, in 1870, it was a windswept expanse of sand and shrubs that few thought could be tamed for the leisurely enjoyment of the local citizenry. William Hammond Hall, the park’s surveyor and first superintendent, planted barley and then lupine, both of which rooted and spread across the sands, holding it down and making it possible for further planting to take place. Within 10 years, natural-looking woodlands had been established across the once-barren land. The park also has historical buildings, museums, a boathouse, a bison paddock, and a classy brewpub. Plan on spending a few hours walking and exploring the terrain before enjoying a well-earned beer or meal.

Walk Description

Start at

McLaren Lodge, near the convergence of Stanyan Street and John F. Kennedy Drive. Built in 1896, this gray-stone cottage with Moorish–Gothic overtones serves as the park’s headquarters (it offers only limited information to visitors, however). It bears the name of its one-time resident John McLaren, the park superintendent from 1890 until 1943—an astonishing run of 53 years that ended with McLaren’s death at age 96. Credited with planting more than 2 million trees, this Scottish gardener was responsible for much of the greening of San Francisco. By all accounts a gruff and cantankerous man, McLaren nonetheless endeared himself to those who worked with him thanks to his tenacious commitment to beautifying the city.

Follow John F. Kennedy Drive into the park, and on the right-hand side you’ll soon see the

Conservatory of Flowers, a grand glass house constructed in 1876 and modeled after the Palm House in London’s Kew Gardens. It’s the oldest structure in the park. Making a brief visit is well worth the $9 admission charge to ogle the various exotic tropical plants contained within its humid interior. If you’re walking in August or September, be sure to make your way to the Dahlia Garden just east of the conservatory. When in bloom, the garden is a riot of dahlias—San Francisco’s official flower—some as large as dinner plates.

With the front of the conservatory at your back, head straight through the tunnel to cross under JFK. Turn right and look for the 12-foot-tall ferns. Veer right to follow the dirt path through this Jurassic-looking grove, veering left at the fork. You’ll quickly reach the secluded Lily Pond, around which the trail loops partway as it leads to Nancy Pelosi Drive. Cross Nancy Pelosi Drive and turn left (east), looking for the entrance to the

National AIDS Memorial Grove. Designated by an act of Congress, the grove is a reflective place where people can think of loved ones lost to AIDS. Memorial services are often held here, and a stone patio along the path, called Circle of Friends, has the names of some victims etched in an ever-widening spiral. From here, the path leads by a stand of young redwoods and through a grassy dell and alongside an artfully landscaped dry creek. Continue straight until you reach the meditative Circle of Peace and Fern Grotto. Look for stone steps to the left, and head up. When you reach the asphalt path, turn left and then stay left again where the path splits near a stone garden. Next, turn right where a dirt path heads downhill. (These directions should all be fairly easy to follow when you’re actually on the trail.) Stick to the main path downhill, and a baseball field will come into view. Turn right and, with the fields at your back, head past the handball court building to return to Nancy Pelosi Drive, and turn left.

At Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, turn right and look for the sign for the

Shakespeare Garden. Before following the sign to the garden, you may want to head straight a few paces and get in line for a scoop of handmade deliciousness at the

Twirl and Dip truck, where organic soft-serve is paired with a fair-trade chocolate dip. Grab a cone or a fruit ice and enjoy it in the garden, where the plantings are all taken from references in the Bard’s works. This is the most popular spot in the park for weddings.

Exiting the garden, turn right toward the California Academy of Sciences, and follow the path that veers left around it to reach the Music Concourse. If you spin in a circle on your heel, you’ll see the new

Academy of Sciences, the

de Young Museum, the

Japanese Tea Garden, and the huge band shell called the

Spreckels Temple of Music, where the Golden Gate Park Band has been playing every Sunday at 1 p.m. (April–October) since 1882. Luciano Pavarotti and Jerry Garcia have also stepped behind the mic here.

The concourse area was laid out for the 1894 Midwinter International Exposition, which attracted more than 2 million visitors to the park. The city was eager to dig its way out of an economic depression and dazzle more-established bigwigs from the East Coast and Chicago. Newspaper publisher Michael de Young, who masterminded the plan, intended to lure people with California’s gentler climes and wow them with the Golden State’s boundless economic opportunities. Some 200 temporary structures filled the grounds, including an Eskimo village, an “erupting” Hawaiian volcano, and a simulated gold-mining camp, along with countless rides, daring acrobats, and trained animals doing tricks—nearly all of which would be deemed dangerous, offensive, and inauthentic by today’s standards.

All that survives from the expo is the Japanese Village, now called the Japanese Tea Garden. After the expo, stewardship of the gardens was turned over to Makoto Hagiwara, who built a house on the grounds and lived here with his family. Hagiwara was fired in 1900 and rehired in 1907, and he stayed on until he was interned along with thousands of Japanese immigrants during World War II. Hagiwara’s other contribution to the local culture was the introduction of fortune cookies, which were originally made as a unique snack to serve at the Tea Garden but are now ubiquitous in Chinese restaurants. (See Backstory in the Chinatown walk.) A stroll through the garden (admission $6, free before 10 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) is a favorite escape of many locals, and there’s a lovely teahouse on a koi pond where you can order tea and Japanese snacks.

The California Academy of Sciences, a natural-history museum, aquarium, planetarium, and research center for sustainability and biodiversity, underwent a dramatic renovation in 2008. In addition to its excellent four-story rainforest and coral reef displays, the complex has achieved great fanfare for its state-of-the-art “living roof.” A 2.5-acre rooftop garden helps provide insulation, captures storm water, and is home to abundant birds and butterflies. At $39.95, admission is steep, but this truly is a world-class museum where you could while away many hours.

The de Young Museum reopened in 2005 following damage from the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The idea to replace the original Beaux Arts building with what you see now was not initially warmly embraced. San Franciscans are always a little suspicious of modern architecture, especially bold designs like this one, with its askew, 144-foot tower prominent above the park’s treetops. It’s clad in unprotected copper, which has begun to acquire a green patina that’s very easy on the eyes. Admission is $15, which deters quick in-and-out visits, but you can take a ride up to the top of the observation tower for free without museum entry—just follow the signs to the tower elevator, where you will be whisked up to a glorious 360-degree view of the city. The crack you see on the ground leading from Music Concourse Drive up to the museum entrance is not the result of shifting fault lines, but the Drawn Stone installation of artist Andy Goldsworthy, although the similarity is likely intentional. (See Backstory on Andy Goldsworthy in the Presidio walk.)

Turn left on Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive and walk back out to MLK. Across the street is the Friend Gate to the

San Francisco Botanical Garden, 55 acres showcasing some 7,500 varieties of plants from around the world. Its labyrinth of paths, ponds, woods, and rolling lawns is tempting to get lost in, and the arboretum is another site worth a dedicated visit (admission is $8). Return to this gate and cross the street to resume our walk. Continue walking west on MLK Drive and look for stone steps on your right. These lead to Stow Lake, so head on up. At the top of the steps, turn left on the shaded path, which clings to the water’s edge. The lake here is a narrow ring, looking like a calm stream looped around high Strawberry Hill. You’ll see plenty of paddleboats and ducks. When you reach the rustic stone bridge, cross and turn right, following the inside of the curvature of the lake. If you want to access the vistas at the top of Strawberry Hill, take one of the paths leading up, circle to the view, and return the way you came. Soon after you pass the Chinese Pavilion, looking like a gazebo awaiting a tea party, you’ll hear and then see Huntington Falls, a charming artifice. This is perhaps the only part of the park where the rush of city traffic is completely drowned out, making it worth pausing for a little break here. Continue along the trail to Roman Bridge, cross it, and head left toward the

Stow Lake Boathouse, where sandwiches and ice cream are sold. Behind the boathouse, a trail leads to JFK Drive. Turn left.

After crossing under Crossover Drive and over Transverse Drive, look for the footpath to the left of JFK. You’ll be walking past a wooded area to the left and picnic grounds and large green meadows to the right. Hellman Hollow (formerly Speedway) Meadow has been the site of many an outdoor concert, including the immensely popular and entirely free Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, which takes place every October. The trail leads to the Polo Field, which is surrounded by a “trotting track” for equestrians and a cycling track for those on two wheels. Golden Gate Park Stables are across the Polo Field. The field is not so much known for polo matches as it is for the cultural events that have taken place here. On the afternoon of January 14, 1967, the Summer of Love got off to an early start here, with the Gathering of the Tribes and Human Be-In. Some 30,000 hippies congregated here to follow Timothy Leary’s call to “turn on, tune in, drop out.” Allen Ginsberg ranted, the Grateful Dead jammed, and the crowd tripped late into the night. When the Dead’s Jerry Garcia died in August 1995, a spontaneous gathering took place in the Polo Field as fans instinctively came here to remember the keeper of the ’60s flame.

With the stables to your left, head straight through the tunnel next to the bleacher stands to eventually make your way across JFK Drive and to Spreckels Lake ahead. Dedicated to model boat racing since 1904, the lake was built at the behest of the older still

San Francisco Model Yacht Club, established in 1898. If members are present (which is the case most weekends), visitors are welcome to peruse the Works Progress Administration–era clubhouse and gawk at the antique boat models.

Returning to JFK, turn right and you’ll soon see the Bison Paddock. Golden Gate Park has no zoo and is more about flora than fauna, but a herd of buffalo has lived here since 1892. The original idea was that buffalo would add a Wild West flavor to the park.

Follow JFK around the golf course. Before the street ends at the Great Highway, a Dutch windmill overlooks the Queen Wilhelmina Tulip Garden. Wilhelmina, who ruled the Netherlands from 1890 until she abdicated in 1948, gave San Francisco the windmill in 1902 to assist with irrigating the park and transforming the sand dunes into the foliage we see today. March and April are the best times to see the tulips in full bloom. The windmill was restored in the early 1980s and still works. There’s another windmill at the southwest corner of the park, but it’s in a sad state of disrepair.

This windmill has proved both beautiful and useful in irrigating Golden Gate Park.

The

Beach Chalet stands at the corner of JFK and the Great Highway. Designed by Willis Polk, the restaurant opened in 1925. The downstairs lobby is covered with murals, painted in 1936 by French-born artist Lucien Labaudt. Upstairs, in a room dominated by plate-glass windows facing the ocean, the microbrewery is a lively spot for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The beer is good, and on many evenings live jazz combos perform. Alternatively, immediately behind the Beach Chalet, the

Park Chalet features small-plate California cuisine, indoor/outdoor seating, and often shorter waits for a table.

Points of Interest

McLaren Lodge 501 Stanyan St.; 415-831-2700, goldengatepark.com/mclaren-lodge.html

Conservatory of Flowers 100 John F. Kennedy Dr.; 415-831-2090, conservatoryofflowers.org

National AIDS Memorial Grove Nancy Pelosi Dr. and Bowling Green Dr.; 415-765-0498, aidsmemorial.org

Shakespeare Garden Martin Luther King Dr. between Nancy Pelosi Dr. and Music Concourse Dr.

Twirl and Dip Truck 335 Martin Luther King Dr.; 415-205-8261, twirlanddip.com

California Academy of Sciences 55 Music Concourse Dr.; 415-379-8000, calacademy.org

de Young Museum 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr.; 415-863-3330, deyoung.famsf.org

Japanese Tea Garden 75 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr.; 415-752-1171, japaneseteagardensf.com

Spreckels Temple of Music/Golden Gate Park Band Music Concourse Dr. and Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr.; goldengateparkband.org

San Francisco Botanical Garden 1199 Ninth Ave.; 415-661-1316, sfbotanicalgarden.org

Stow Lake Boathouse 50 Stow Lake Dr. E.; 415-702-1390, stowlakeboathouse.com

San Francisco Model Yacht Club John F. Kennedy Dr. and 36th Ave.; sfmyc.org (no published phone number)

Beach Chalet 1000 Great Hwy.; 415-386-8439, beachchalet.com

Park Chalet 1000 Great Hwy.; 415-386-8439, parkchalet.com