After university, I lived in San Francisco for a year while I completed my post-bac premedical program. I lived in the Sunset district, which is known for its horrid fog and weather. And although this rumor did in fact turn out to be true, the Sunset also offers a unique more outdoors side of the city. This is because it is sandwiched in-between Golden Gate Park, Ocean Beach, and Stern Grove (pictured above). During the summers, Stern Grove offers the Stern Grove Music Festival, which is a FREE festival held every Sunday with artists like Ozomatli, OK GO, and the San Francisco Symphony.
The park is also quite large and has a pond, multiple fields and a large off-leash dog park. My housemate and I used to love to take walks, go Geocaching and take pictures.
Its a damp San Francisco climate so the park offers lots of different mosses, clovers and slugs! This includes the famous California Banana Slug, so watch your step 😉
The dog park is full of characters. Sometimes I enjoyed watching the dogs and sometimes the humans. Like this guy and his dog below….the dog looked like a moving mat until he leapt into the air!
Stern Grove is a wonderful place to visit on a Sunday to hear good music as well as on a regular weekday just to get away from the city for a bit. Because less people know about the park, it is less crowded and has less homeless people than Golden Gate Park and it tends to be a bit safer overall. So stop by next time you’re in San Francisco and you’re sure to have a pleasant experience. Safe travels ~B
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Yes, but how do you get there? Last time I dared stray from BART in San Francisco, I got trapped on a MUNI going slower than walking pace, and ended up nearly missing a book reading. Now it’s BART or feet for me. Can I walk to Stern Grove?
hmmm yes SF public transit is kinda of a joke. The 28 BUS has a stop at Stern Grove (and comes every 20 min), otherwise I’m afraid its the M or L line MUNI. That would be a long walk from BART. ALTHOUGH Stern Grove is one of the few places I’d recommend driving to in SF because there is always plenty of parking on nearby streets like Wawona and Vicente. Be prepared to come extra early on a concert Sunday to get the same great parking though. Best of luck and let me know if you have any more questions 🙂