Golden Gate National Recreation Area

Coordinates: 37°48′N 122°29′W / 37.80°N 122.48°W / 37.80; -122.48
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the park with many sites in and around San Francisco and the Greater San Francisco Bay Area. For the urban park located entirely within San Francisco, see Golden Gate Park.

Golden Gate National Recreation Area
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
View of the Golden Gate from Lands End
Map showing the location of Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Map showing the location of Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Golden Gate NRA
Map showing the location of Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Map showing the location of Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Golden Gate NRA
LocationSan Francisco Bay Area, California, United States
Nearest citySan Francisco, California
Coordinates37°48′N 122°29′W / 37.80°N 122.48°W / 37.80; -122.48
Area82,116 acres (332.31 km2)[1]
EstablishedOctober 27, 1972
Visitors14,953,882 (in 2023)[2]
Governing bodyNational Park Service
Websitenps.gov/goga

The Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) is a

U.S. National Recreation Area protecting 82,116 acres (33,231 ha) of ecologically and historically significant landscapes surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area. Much of the park is land formerly used by the United States Army. GGNRA is managed by the National Park Service and is the second-most visited unit of the National Park system in the United States (ranking only under Blue Ridge Parkway), with more than 15.6 million visitors in 2022. It is also one of the largest urban parks in the world, with a size two-and-a-half times that of the consolidated city and county of San Francisco
.

The park is not one continuous locale but rather a collection of areas that stretch from southern

Nike missile
sites.

History

The park was created thanks to the cooperative legislative efforts of cosponsors Congressman William S. Mailliard (R-San Francisco) and Congressman Phillip Burton (D-San Francisco). Dr. Robert Busha, an administrator in Mailliard's Washington office, conceived the plan for a non-contiguous national recreation area to circumvent the prevailing limitation that national park property should be contiguous. In 1972, President

Gulf Oil Corporation
. The Nature Conservancy then transferred the land to the GGNRA. These properties formed the initial basis for the park.

Throughout the next 30 years, the National Park Service acquired land and historic sites from the U.S. Army, private landowners, and corporations, incorporating them into the GGNRA. The acquisitions range from the historic Cliff House restaurant and Sutro Baths in San Francisco, to large and expansive forest and coastal lands, such as Sweeney Ridge in San Mateo County and Muir Woods National Monument in Marin. Many decommissioned Army bases and fortifications were incorporated into the park, including Fort Funston, four Nike missile sites, The Presidio, and Crissy Field. The latest acquisition by the National Park Service is Mori Point, a small parcel of land on the Pacifica coast.

In 1988,

Golden Gate Biosphere Reserve
.

In February 2005, Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation in the United States Senate that would add 4,700 acres (1,900 ha) of natural land to the GGNRA in San Mateo County, including a 4,076-acre parcel known as the Rancho Corral de Tierra. The property, located south of Pacifica and surrounding the communities of Moss Beach and Montara, is home to many diverse plant and animal species. The bill passed in the Senate but did not pass the House of Representatives.

On December 9, 2011, Rancho Corral de Tierra was transferred from the Peninsula Open Space Trust to the GGNRA and the National Park Service.[4]

San Francisco Bay, and the city skyline seen from Marin County in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

Locations in the park

Marin County

Camping sites

Bicentennial Campground arranged around a small clearing, with each site accommodating a maximum of two people.[6]

Camping Information for the GGNRA

  • Bicentennial Camp - open year-round, three 3-person sites, no pets or fires, stoves ok
  • Hawk Camp - open spring and summer, three 4-person sites
  • Haypress Camp – open spring and summer. Five sites. Four campers maximum per site
  • Kirby Cove Camp – open Daylight Saving Time period, March–November, five 10-person sites and one 35-person Day Use site.

San Francisco

Camping sites

  • Rob Hill Group Camp – open April through November, $125/night, two 30-person public sites, each with four parking spaces, must be reserved three days in advance with the Presidio Trust.

San Mateo County

Sweeney Ridge

See also

References

  1. ^ "Listing of acreage – December 31, 2011" (XLSX). Land Resource Division, National Park Service. Retrieved March 20, 2012. (National Park Service Acreage Reports)
  2. ^ "Annual Park Ranking Report for Recreation Visits in: 2023". nps.gov. National Park Service. Archived from the original on May 24, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  3. ^ "iNaturalist: GGNRA". iNaturalist. Archived from the original on July 25, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  4. ^ "Rancho Corral de Tierra Transferred to Golden Gate National Recreation Area – Golden Gate National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Archived from the original on November 13, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  5. ^ Hamlin, Jessie. (Oct. 17, 1999). San Francisco Chronicle. Coming Up – What's New This Week: ART: Visions of Preservation Sunday Datebook section, Page 11.
  6. ISBN 0-89997-295-0
    .
  7. ^ "Sutro Heights History – Golden Gate National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Archived from the original on June 9, 2016.
  8. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on August 29, 2013. Retrieved November 28, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ^ Rancho Corral de Tierra: Fact Sheet – Golden Gate National Recreation Area Archived 2012-07-17 at the Wayback Machine. Nps.gov (2013-07-14). Retrieved on 2013-07-21.
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