Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
DON'T MISS
GOLDEN GATE PARK
When San Franciscans refer to 'the park,' there's only one that gets the definite article.
;
5, 18, 21, 28, 29, 33, 44, 71,
N), including free spirits, free music, Frisbee and
bison.
At the east end you can join year-round drum circles at
Hippie Hill
, sweater-clad ath-
letes at the historic
Lawn Bowling Club
, toddlers clinging for dear life onto the 100-year-
GOOGLE MAP
). To the west, turtles paddle past model yachts at
Spreckels Lake
, offerings
are made at pagan altars behind the
baseball diamond
and free concerts are held in the
Polo Fields
, site of 1967's hippie Human Be-In.
This scenery seems far-fetched now, but impossible when proposed in 1866. When
New York's Central Park architect Frederick Law Olmsted balked at transforming 1017
acres of dunes into the world's largest developed park, San Francisco's green scheme fell
to tenacious young civil engineer William Hammond Hall. He insisted that instead of casi-
nos, resorts, race tracks and an igloo village, park features should include
botanical gar-
415-661-1316;
www.strybing.org
; 1199 9th Ave;
adult/child $7/5, 2nd Tue of month free;
9am-6pm Apr-Oct, to 5pm Nov-Mar, bookstore 10am-4pm;
;
6, 43, 44, 71,
Stow Lake
.
Today the park offers 7.5 miles of bicycle trails, 12 miles of equestrian trails, an archery
range, fly-casting pools, four soccer fields and 21 tennis courts. Sundays, when JFK Dr
closes to traffic around 9th Ave, don't miss
roller disco
and
lindy-hopping
in the park.
Other times, catch these park highlights:
MH de Young Museum
MUSEUM
adult/child $10/6, discount with Muni ticket $2, 1st Tue of month free, online booking fee $1 per ticket;
9:30am-5:15pm Tue-Sun, to 8:45pm Fri Apr-Nov; 5, 44, 71, N)
Follow sculptor Andy Goldsworthy's artificial earthquake fault in the sidewalk into Herzog
+ de Meuron's faultlessly sleek, copper-clad building that's oxidizing green to blend into
the park. Don't be fooled by the de Young's camouflaged exterior: shows here boldly
