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Golden Gate Park — The checkable facts
Quick answer
Golden Gate Park covers 1,017 acres of what were San Francisco sand dunes, a district once called the Outside Lands. Surveying began in 1870 under William Hammond Hall, who held the ground with barley, then lupine, then trees. John McLaren ran the park from 1890 until his death in 1943. Bison have been kept there since 1891.
| Claim | Source |
|---|---|
| The park covers 1,017 acres, against Central Park's 843 | SF Recreation and Parks — History of Golden Gate Park |
| William Hammond Hall prepared the survey and topographic map of the site in 1870 | SF Recreation and Parks — History of Golden Gate Park |
| Olmsted's 1865 plan used native species suited to the dry climate and was rejected in favour of a Central Park-style design | SF Recreation and Parks — History of Golden Gate Park |
| About 60,000 trees had been planted by 1875, mostly blue gum eucalyptus, Monterey pine and Monterey cypress | SF Recreation and Parks — History of Golden Gate Park |
| John McLaren lived in McLaren Lodge until he died in 1943, aged 96 | SF Recreation and Parks — History of Golden Gate Park |
| The Conservatory of Flowers opened in 1879 and the Japanese Tea Garden in 1894 | SF Recreation and Parks — History of Golden Gate Park |
Frequently asked
Is it really bigger than Central Park?
Yes, by about a fifth. The San Francisco park measures 1,017 acres against Central Park's 843, and it is longer and narrower: roughly three miles east to west by half a mile north to south. It is also the third most visited city park in the United States, at around 24 million visits a year.
Why are there bison here?
Superintendent John McLaren brought the first animals in 1891, when fewer than a thousand wild bison were left in North America and city parks were breeding them as insurance against extinction. The herd moved to its present paddock near the western end in 1899. Hundreds of calves have been born on the site since.
Did Frederick Law Olmsted design it?
No. Olmsted was asked for advice and argued that windswept dunes could not carry an eastern-style landscape without irrigation the city did not have; he proposed something drier and more native, and was overruled. The plan that was built came from William Hammond Hall, a surveyor in his twenties.
Is John F. Kennedy Drive closed to cars?
Partly. Sunday closures began in 1967 and Saturdays were added later. In April 2022 the Board of Supervisors made the eastern stretch permanently car-free and renamed it the JFK Promenade; the western end still carries traffic. Cycling, skating and walking now dominate the closed section every day of the week.
What else is worth seeing?
Three things stand out. The oldest public Japanese garden in the United States sits beside the Music Concourse, laid out for the Midwinter Fair of 1894. The Conservatory of Flowers, a wood-and-glass Victorian glasshouse, dates from 1879. The de Young Museum and the California Academy of Sciences face each other across the concourse.
Sources
- SF Recreation and Parks — History of Golden Gate Park
- Wikipedia — Golden Gate Park
- Wikipedia — John McLaren (horticulturist)
- KQED — Golden Gate Park Was Once Miles and Miles of Sand Dunes
- SF Chronicle — How sand dunes became S.F.'s Golden Gate Park, thanks to a clumsy horse
- The Cultural Landscape Foundation — Golden Gate Park
- KQED — the bison of Golden Gate Park
- Central Park Conservancy — Park history
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