Golden Gate Park
A broad band of green in an arid city mostly covered in concrete, Golden Gate Park is an oasis of exotic flora, meadows, lakes, and facilities for nearly every conceivable sport or diversion. Begun in 1871, the area was slowly reclaimed from the thousands of acres of sand dunes that once covered the area. Beginning with quick-rooting barley, vegetation was slowly introduced that eventually anchored the soil.
The park is a half-mile wide and three miles long, plus the narrow strip to the east known as the Panhandle. Roads meander through the park, some of them closed to auto traffic on weekends, and trails lace the hills and glens. Eucalyptus and cypress trees are the most prevalent, but stands of palms, tree ferns, redwoods, and other natural-styles plantings are found everywhere. Formal, landscaped gardens of roses, rhododendrons, and others also decorate the park.
The eastern end of the park is the most developed and features the Steinhart Aquarium inside the California Academy of Sciences building, the de Young art museum, the Victorian glass Conservatory, and the Japanese Tea Garden left over from the 1894 World’s Fair. A paddock in the western end of the park holds a dozen bison. Athletic facilities run the gamut. There are baseball diamonds, football and soccer fields, a polo field, riding trails, horseshoe pits, fly-casting pools, archery ranges, stables, playgrounds, and even a nine-hole golf course. Most of these are cleverly hidden from site, allowing strollers to imagine the park as undeveloped and natural. At the western edge of the park, facing the sea, stand two huge windmills, originally installed to pump water from underground to supplement the skimpy rainfall.
The narrow Panhandle of the park extends another half-mile east. Landscaped and open, the fine Victorian homes lining both sides are prized residences.
