Golden Gate National Recreation Area
| Golden Gate National Recreation Area | |||
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| Location: | California , United States | ||
| Next city: | San Francisco | ||
| Surface: | 305 km² | ||
| Founding: | October 27, 1972 | ||
| Visitors: | 16,000,000 (2004) | ||
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The Golden Gate National Recreation Area is a National Recreation Area administered by the National Park Service around the San Francisco Bay . It is 2½ times the size of the city and county of San Francisco . The area is one of the largest urban parks and most visited parks in the world.
The recreation area does not consist of a contiguous area, but extends over sub-areas from northern San Mateo County to the south to Marin County and also includes various sub-areas of San Francisco . The park includes Muir Woods National Monument , Alcatraz and the Presidio of San Francisco , among others . It is home to over 1200 species of plants and animals and has a coastline of over 90 kilometers. The Golden Gate Park is not part of the recreation area, it is managed independently by the city of San Francisco.
history
The park was founded in 1972 by Richard Nixon . When it was founded, US $ 120 million was available to buy up land. From the US Army was Alcatraz and Fort Mason bought up by the Gulf Oil Corporation , the Marin Headlands . Over the next 30 years, land was repeatedly bought up by the US Army, private landowners and industry, such as Sweeney Ridge and the historic Cliff House .
In 1988 UNESCO declared the recreation area and 12 other adjacent protected areas a biosphere reserve .
Parts of the park
Marin County
| National park | location | view |
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| Fort Baker |
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Former army post on the north side of the Golden Gate ; there is u. a. also a US Coast Guard station and the Bay Area Discovery Museum . |
| Marin Headlands |
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Southwestern part of Marin County . Includes the area of Fort Cronkhite, Fort Barry, Muir Beach, Tennessee Valley, Gerbode Valley, and Rodeo Valley. There is u. a. the Nike missile site, SF-88 , The Marine Mammal Center , the Point Bonita Lighthouse and a visitor center (located on the Rodeo Lagoon). |
| Olema Valley |
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10 miles of meadows and woodland stretching from Tomales Bay in the north to Bolinas Lagoon in the south. |
| Point Bonita Lighthouse |
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A lighthouse in use that is maintained by the US Coast Guard. |
| Stinson Beach |
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Beach at the south end of Bolinas Lagoon ; Great white sharks are occasionally encountered there due to a seal colony nearby . |
| Muir Woods National Monument |
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Large coastal redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) dominate the forest, Douglas firs (Pseudotsuga menziesii) , Oregon maples (Acer macrophyllum) , Lithocarpus densiflorus , and California laurel (Umbellularia californica) can also be found . |
San Francisco
- Alcatraz - The infamous prison and at the same time the first and oldest lighthouse still in operation on the west coast.
- China Beach - A small beach on the north end of the Sea Cliff District in San Francisco near the Presidio .
- Cliff House - A historic restaurant on the north end of Ocean Beach , overlooking the Pacific Ocean . Originally built in 1863, it was rebuilt after the fires in 1894 and 1907.
- Crissy Field - A renatured former airfield in the Presidio located directly on San Francisco Bay between Marina Green and the Golden Gate Bridge.
- Fort Funston - Former Nike Missile Defense Structure and Position (SF-59L) ; popular today for paragliding .
- Fort Mason - Former military base on San Francisco Bay , the premises of which are now used by non-profit organizations and for cultural events.
- Fort Point National Historic Site - A fort at the south end of the Golden Gate Bridge that once housed 126 cannons to protect the bay from attackers. Although completed shortly before the Civil War , a shot was never fired from there during combat operations.
- Mile Rock - Historic lighthouse on the southwest edge of the Golden Gate .
- San Francisco Presidio - Former military compound. These include the Battery Chamberlin, the only remaining shell disappearing gun ( "disappearing gun") to defend the coast on the west coast of the United States, the San Francisco National Cemetery , Crissy Field , Fort Point and Baker Beach .
- Baker Beach - Birthplace of the Burning Man Festival at the southwest end of the Presidio ; also a popular place for sunbathing, the north end of which is "clothing-optional".
- Ocean Beach - Popular beach with surfers on the west side of San Francisco.
- Sutro Baths - Ruins of an indoor swimming pool built in 1881 and donated by Adolph Sutro , north of the Cliff House .
- Sutro Heights - Park on the north end of Ocean Beach .
- Lands End - A natural piece of land on the northwest corner of San Francisco in Lincoln Park with a beautiful view of the Marin Headlands .
San Mateo County
- Milagra Ridge - A 240 acre area that was formerly the Nike SF-51L missile base and is now home to several endangered species.
- Phleger Estate - part of the Bay Area Ridge Trail , featuring coast redwoods and other native plants.
- Sweeney Ridge - the place where the Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portolà discovered the San Francisco Bay . Observation posts were located here in World War II and later the Nike SF-51C missile base .
- Mori Point - A small unpopulated area in the city of Pacifica , the final expansion of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
- Rancho Corral de Tierra - 3800 acres (15.4 km²) scrub, forest and agricultural land on the coastal mountains between El Grenada and Montara, California . The land was purchased by the nature conservation organization Peninsula Open Space Trust and handed over to the National Park Service in December 2011 to expand the National Recreation Areas.
Web links
- National Park Service: Golden Gate National Recreation Area (official site; English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ National Park Service: Golden Gate NRA - Rancho Corral de Tierra Transferred to Golden Gate National Recreation Area , press release of December 12, 2011