Our Public Lands Belong to Everyone. San Francisco’s Parks Show Us How
Our Public Lands Belong to Everyone. San Francisco’s Parks Show Us How.
by David Eugene Perry
“National parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst.” — Wallace Stegner
On September 27 as we observe National Public Lands Day, San Francisco’s plethora of open spaces are an invitation to all of us to reimagine who these lands are for, and to participate in their stewardship. And in San Francisco, there’s no better place to see that reimagining in action than in our city parks, the Presidio, and the lands of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA). San Francisco is unique among major cities in the United States: nearly one in every five acresis dedicated to public open space. That includes some of my favorite spots and “open space stewards” below:
• San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department — managing over 220 neighborhood parks, Golden Gate Park, McLaren Park, playgrounds, and trails.
• Presidio Trust lands — 1,480 acres of restored wetlands, historic military landscapes, and the spectacular Tunnel Tops.
• GGNRA — more than 80,000 acres of shoreline, dunes, forests, and bluffs, with a third of that footprint inside San Francisco.
• Port and redevelopment parks — such as China Basin Park in Mission Bay and the new Cityside Park on Treasure Island.
• Yerba Buena Gardens: With a Redwood grove, butterfly habitat, Ohlone Memorial Circle, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Waterfall and Tribute and San Francisco’s “Sister City Garden”, Yerba Buena Gardens is a magical spot in the middle of downtown San Francisco adjacent to the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
Together, these form a continuous civic fabric of green that no private club or gated development can match. Just look at some of the new open spaces that have come online, or are about to, in “The City that Knows How.”
• Sunset Dunes (Upper Great Highway) — A 43-acre transformation of roadway into dune habitat and promenade along Ocean Beach (opened April 2025).
• Cityside Park (Treasure Island) — The island’s first signature green space, opened September 2025.
• China Basin Park (Mission Bay) — Five acres of lawn, amphitheater, and Bay Trail linkages (opened 2024).
• India Basin Waterfront Park (Bayview) — Expansions opened in 2024, with more phases underway to create a 10-acre shoreline park with docks, fitness zones, and restored habitat.
• Outpost Meadow (Presidio Tunnel Tops) — A 1.5-acre expansion opened July 2025 with accessible picnic lawns and stroller/bike parking.
• McLaren Park Herz Recreation Center — A long-awaited gym and community hub, opened in 2025.
• Twin Peaks trails & promenades — Ongoing conversion of roadways into walking promenades.
• Stern Grove — New tree-house-style playground and reopening of the historic Trocadero Clubhouse.
• Esprit Park (Dogpatch) — Renovation completion expected 2025.
• Golden Gate Park — Design of a new Breast Cancer Memorial Garden near Arguello Gate.
Through the relentless conservation and preservation efforts ofthe Presidio Trust, the Presidio has reclaimed ecosystems once thought lost, such as the Crissy Field Marsh. Across the city, Rec & Park continues its work to ensure every resident lives within a 10-minute walk of a park. And the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy mobilizes thousands of volunteers, scholarships, and shuttles to bridge the access gap.
These spaces are not just about grass and trails—they are about belonging. They are where families picnic at the Presidio Tunnel Tops, where families from Bayview gather at new India Basin cookout terraces, and where cyclists and runners share Sunset Dunes with sandpipers.
Theodore Roosevelt, laying the cornerstone of the Yellowstone Gateway in 1903, famously said: “The essential feature is its essential democracy. It is the preservation for the people as a whole, instead of leaving the enjoyment to be confined to the very rich who can control private reserves.”
Every restored creek, every inclusive program, every accessible trail is democracy in action. When we all have access—when everyone sees themselves in these places—public lands don’t just endure. They flourish.
San Francisco, through Rec & Park, the Presidio, and the GGNRA, gives us a blueprint—and a promise—for how public land can reflect us at our best.
My grandmother always taught me that there are three magic words: “Please” and “Thank You.” So, the next time you see a Park Ranger at the Presidio, or a SF Rec & Park staff person, take a moment to do two things: say “thank you” for helping us preserve our precious open spaces, and “please” tell me how and where I can volunteer to help the cause.
Keep on keeping on.
David Eugene Perry is an award-winning author, writer and communications professional. He remembers vividly his first bike ride in the Presidio in 1986, and was proud to help open Yerba Buena Gardens in 1993.