San Francisco's moderate climate and seaside location help make it an exceptional place for recreational activities. And the city offers plenty of space for them, too: Nearly 18% of all land in town is park land.
There are parks on some of the city's highest elevations, like Telegraph Hill, and green space along the waterfront from the Embarcadero on San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean shore all the way to the city line.
Golden Gate Park, which stretches for three miles from Haight-Ashbury all the way to the beach, is an amalgam of gardens, woods, pavilions and lawns.
And because the summers are cool and the winters warm, San Francisco's parks can be enjoyed year-round.
"The parks are heavily utilized," said Phil Ginsburg, general manager of San Francisco's parks and recreation department. "People think of them as their backyards."
