Access point: Key Avenue

Details:

Foundsf.org says, the park “offers dramatic views of the bay and city. It is also a refuge for some of the largest and richest native grasslands in San Francisco. Fields of goldfields (Lasthenia californica), California buttercup (Ranunculus californicus), checkerbloom (Sidalcea malvaeflora), native bunchgrasses and many other wildflowers dazzle the visitor during mid-spring. Rare plants such as the San Francisco Chinese houses (Collinsia multicolor) and the coast larkspur (Delphinium californicum) are found nowhere else in San Francisco.

Towards the top of the hill the grasslands are replaced by eucalyptus plantations and, remarkably, a remnant shrub woodland with coast live oaks (Quercus agrifolia) and islay cherry (Prunus ilicifolia). (Islay is one of the names for this plant in the local Ohlone language; Islais Creek is San Francisco’s only place name derived from the Ohlone language.) Outcrops of the underlying Franciscan radiolarian chert appear throughout the woodland and grassland.” To protect this valuable habitat, please stay on Bayview Hill Road while enjoying the park.