Written by Vincent Distrola
One of my favorite things to do on a day off is pack a small lunch, fill my water bottles, and take a walk.
While San Francisco is bordered by beautiful sites such as Muir Woods, Big Basin Redwoods Park, and Yosemite National Park, the city itself is home to sites just as beautiful and diverse.
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No matter which route I choose to take, there is always a park (or two) to stop and visit.
Golden Gate Park, San Francisco’s largest park, is amazing. The 150-year-old park is home to bison, the Conservatory of Flowers, the San Francisco Botanical Garden, two museums, and more. And while the park is great to visit, San Francisco offers so much more.
John McLaren Park
Tucked away in Southeastern San Francisco, and bordered by the Excelsior, Visitacion Valley, Portola, and Crocker-Amazon neighborhoods, John McLaren Park is San Francisco’s third largest park behind Golden Gate Park and The Presidio, boasting 312 acres.
John McLaren (1846–1943) was born in Scotland and studied horticulture, working in gardens and beaches before immigrating to the United States in 1870 and continuing to work in the Bay Area. McLaren, who knew and worked with John Muir, was named superintendent of Golden Gate Park in 1887. He is known for building the two windmills to pump water into the park, helping build the berm where the Great Highway is, and hiding statues (which he did not favor) with greenery.
McLaren Park, which was originally named Mission Park, has a long history. Started in 1926, the park was expanded to its current size through the 1980s.
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Like Golden Gate Park, McLaren Park is full of dense groves that hide the street view to give you the illusion of being deep in nature. With more than 7 miles of hiking trails – both paved and unpaved – the park makes it easy for visitors to wander and discover its beauty.
Along the trails, you will come across other amenities of the park including the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater (home to the first blues festival in San Francisco), a 9-hole golf course, the Philosopher’s Way trail, three different playgrounds, and the big, blue 350,000 gallon La Grande Tank.
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Lands End
Situated along the Northwest edge of San Francisco, Lands End is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and managed by the National Park Service.
The area was originally home to the Yelamu Ohlone tribe, before the land was colonized by the Spanish in the late 1700s. Once California joined the United States, the land was purchased from the Spanish and Lands End became an area for the extremely wealthy during the Gold Rush.
Adolph Sutro, a German native and San Francisco’s 24th mayor, built the Sutro Baths as well as a steam train that connected downtown to the seaside park.
The Sutro Baths, which featured 6 saltwater pools open to the public, were destroyed by a fire in 1966. The ruins can be visited and walked on, and are one main attraction of Lands End.
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Lands End Trail, a 3.4-mile hike, gives access to Point Lobos, which offers amazing views of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Perhaps the greatest site to enjoy along the way is the Labyrinth, created by San Francisco artist Eduardo Aguilera in 2004. The hidden labyrinth, which also overlooks the Golden Gate Bridge, can be accessed by the Mile Rock Beach path.
Mount Sutro Open Space Reserve
Sixty-one acres big, Mount Sutro Open Space Reserve is a forest reserve owned by the University of California, San Francisco. UCSF bought the land in 1953, but has opened it to the public since.
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The reserve is part of the larger Mount Sutro, which is actually a hill that peaks at 909 feet, and is famous for being a dense forest that is about 80% Tasmanian blue gum eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus).Mount Sutro Open Space Reserve is not just home to eucalyptus, however. At the top of the reserve is Rotary Meadow, which is a native plant garden. On over 5 miles of trails you can see trees like the Monterey Pine (Pinus radiata) and the Monterey Cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa), as well as Himalayan blackberry (Rubus armeniacus). Some of the oldest trees in the park are over 100 feet tall, and the park is famous for being in the path of Karl the Fog. When fog rolls in and covers the tops of the trees, it can give you the illusion of being in a cloud forest.
The nonprofit Sutro Stewards operate and maintain the trails, nursery, and habitat conservation at Mount Sutro Open Space Reserve.
References
“McLaren Park” by SFGovTV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r6VNLSi4Bk
John McLaren
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McLaren_(horticulturist)
John McLaren Park
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McLaren_Park
McLaren Park Trails
http://sfrecpark.org/Facilities/Facility/Details/McLaren-Park-Trails-401
Lands End
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lands_End_(San_Francisco)
Sutro Baths
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutro_Baths
Eduardo Aguilera – Public Art and Architecture from Around the World
https://www.artandarchitecture-sf.com/tag/eduardo-aguilera
Lands End History by National Parks Service
https://www.nps.gov/goga/learn/historyculture/lands-end.htm
Mount Sutro
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Sutro
Mount Sutro Open Space Reserve
https://www.ucsf.edu/about/locations/mount-sutro-open-space-reserve#tabs-2
Mount Sutro Forest
Sutro Stewards
https://www.sutrostewards.org/