For this family walk, we headed into the endlessly amusing Golden Gate Park for two very specific pursuits: the search for the mysterious fairy door, and also a paddleboat and walk around Stowe Lake. Both combined to make the first ever family walk in which my four year old didn’t complain once; that’s how good it was.
We began with the search for the fairy door.
This fairy door is a bit of a legend and it’s wonderful to find. It is located in the end of a long, halved eucalyptus log on a paved path between the Japanese Tea Garden and Stowe Lake. When you find it, you can leave a message inside.
My boys loved it.
Then, we went back down the paved path to climb the steps to Stowe Lake, where you can rent a paddleboat or rowboat by the hour (about $30). We opted for the paddleboat, and had our lunch out on the lake. It was really fun. There are turtles to see, lots of geese and ducks, a huge waterfall, and a pagoda.
Lots of ducklings were out and about.
Golden Gate Park’s largest body of water, Stow Lake is a popular spot for strolling, picnicking, and pedaling around in boats, which can be rented at the boathouse. Created in 1893, the lake was designed for leisure boating, as a promenade for horse-drawn carriages, and as a reservoir for park irrigation. The 12-acre doughnut-shaped lake surrounds Strawberry Hill Island, a wooded hill named for the wild strawberries that once flourished on its flanks.
A trail follows the lake’s perimeter, passing Huntington Falls, a 110-foot artificial waterfall that cascades from another reservoir higher up on Strawberry Hill; the Golden Gate Pavilion, a colorful Chinese pagoda presented to San Francisco by its sister city Taipei in 1976; and the Stone (or Rustic) Bridge, built in 1893, and Roman Bridge.
Both bridges connect the lakeshore trail to Strawberry Hill Island, where trails follow the shoreline and climb to the hill’s summit, the highest point in Golden Gate Park at more than 400 feet. You can still catch glimpses of the city through the thick groves of trees, but in the 1890s the hill provided sweeping views. Sweeney’s Observatory, an elaborate castle-like structure built on the summit in 1891, was actually a vista point. Horse-drawn carriages took visitors around the lake and up to the observatory until 1906, when it was destroyed in the great earthquake.
After the paddleboating, we crossed the foot bridge closest to the concessions and went over to Strawberry Hill, which has a wonderful set of paths. We climbed to the top and enjoyed the waterfall from above, and found that there is something called “hilltopping,” in which butterflies settle at the top of hills. They’re drawn to the coastal strawberries all over the place. Well, you know I couldn’t resist a picture or two. Here is an Anise Swallowtail.
The top of the hill also has lots of great views, including a peek of the Golden Gate Bridge through the trees.
Then we circled back down the hill and crossed the old stone bridge from 1893 and went back to our car. The whole trip took about four hours and it was really fun. There’s so much more to do in Golden Gate Park, but having something specific in mind when you go makes for a very good family walk.
Animals
There were so many to see!
- Robin
- Gophers
- Canadian geese
- Ducks
- Stellar’s blue jay
- Turtles
- Anise Swallowtail butterfly
How to get there
- Head into Golden Gate Park and park along Martin Luther King Drive, as near as you can to the Botanical Gardens and Japanese Tea House.
- The paved path to the fairy door is between the Japanese Tea Gardens and Stowe Lake. It’s a pretty well-traveled paved path so you won’t miss it.
- You can climb the steps up to Stowe Lake when you’re done with the fairy door.