Golden Gate Park

Golden Gate Park stretches across more than 1,000 acres on the west side of San Francisco, from the Panhandle to the Pacific. It was designed in 1870 on what had been sand dunes, and grew up over the next century and a half as a working park — built piece by piece around two world's fairs, an earthquake, the Depression, and the city around it. It has museums, lakes, gardens, a herd of bison, a small Japanese garden that is the oldest in the country, the only federally designated AIDS memorial in the United States, two restored Dutch windmills, a 1914 carousel, and a marble portico salvaged from a Nob Hill mansion destroyed in 1906.

This is an independent site about the park, written by a neighbor who walks it most days. It isn't comprehensive, and it isn't the official source for hours or reservations. It's a personal selection of the places and stories that make the park worth knowing.

Top Attractions — Blue Heron Lake, the Bison Paddock, the Beach Chalet, the windmills, the 6th Avenue Skatin' Place.

Special Gardens — The Rose Garden, the Japanese Tea Garden, the San Francisco Botanical Garden, the Dahlia Dell, Kathleen's Garden, and the AIDS Memorial Grove.

Great Museums — The California Academy of Sciences, the de Young, and the Conservatory of Flowers.

More Goodies — The Music Concourse, the Portals of the Past, Anglers Lodge, and the Koret Children's Quarter and Carousel.