Golden Gate Park

With over 1000 acres to explore, there’s something for everyone at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.

The de Young may have an unusual look, but there is much to explore inside this expansive structure.

A pair of sphinxes greet you from the original Memorial Museum leftover from the Midwinter Exposition of 1894 and the original de Young museum design.

The Pool of Enchantment houses lilies and both were preserved when the museum reopened after its redesign from damage due to the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Read more on the fascinating history of this museum here.

If you’re a Bay Area resident, you can visit on certain Saturdays and the General Admission is free. The Legion of Honor, the sister museum to de Young, honors the same program as well. See more here!

Head past the ticket desks to the Hamon Observation Tower, which is free without admission fee for some of the best views in all of Golden Gate Park and, possibly, SF.

The California Academy of Science is a must-see! From the early start in 1923 as Steinhart Aquarium, this architectural marvel is home to the Osher Rainforest where butterflies roam free.

Highly recommend the experience of the butterflies fluttering around you as you wind your way up to the apex where there is a hatchery before exiting and descending back to the museum’s main floor.

There’s even a corpse flower that blooms every few years. We were lucky enough to visit a few days before it was fully opened, and it was already quite smelly.

Be sure to visit the Living Roof, if the weather permits! Read more about it here.

Touches remain of the original aquarium, if you know where to look.

Of the treasures of Golden Gate Park, the gardens offer beauty and simplicity nestled in the city by the Bay. You can experience each garden individually or all three in a convenient combination for one admission price for entry to the following:

• The Japanese Tea Garden
• The Conservancy of Flowers
• The San Francisco Botanical Garden

See more here.

A remnant of the 1894 California Midwinter Exposition, the Japanese Tea Garden was preserved for a long time by Makoto Hagiwara and his family. He added the Drum Bridge during the late 1800s.

The city took over the management in the 1900s while Hagiwara stayed on “unofficially” as the family continued to build their home as caretakers of the garden over the next few decades, adding other features and improvements to the Garden.

In 1942, the Hagiwara family was forced to move and was interred, eventually in Utah, due to the “Japanese Internment” Executive Order 9066 from then president FDR. The garden was simply the “Tea Garden”, during this time, erasing all ties to the Japanese culture of whom it represents and who was its caretaker for so long. Eventually, the garden was reinstated as “The Japanese Tea Garden” in the 1950s, and in the 1980s the street was named in their honor as “Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive”. Read more here

The striking pagoda, over a century old, makes this stroll well worthwhile, experiencing the winding paths with purpose for your internal musings.

Do stop for a cup of green tea, mochi or to simply stop and embrace the gentle beauty of this exquisite garden.

Touted as the “oldest public wood-and-glass conservancies in North America”, The Conservancy of Flowers is home to tropical and carnivorous plants including the Hanging Fanged Pots.

“Scarlet” the Corpse flower will bloom every few years. When we visited, she was currently in her dormant state, recovering energy between blooms.

San Francisco Botanical Garden 's vast, landscape is home to acres of open space showcasing seasonal blooms making for a great picnic spot on a sunny San Francisco day.

A children’s garden where you can touch and smell plants in the sensory garden. They welcome children to dig and become familiar with plants through their programming. Read more here.

Other Areas of Mention

A small alcove called the Shakespeare Garden is located along Martin Luther King Jr Dr. Step inside for a quiet moment of contemplation.

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