If you’ve ever visited San Francisco and strolled the Presidio—a former military base turned national recreational area—you’ve experienced the magic of this outdoor oasis. 

Today marks a historic moment for The Presidio Trust, the National Park Service, and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, as the Presidio Tunnel Tops project was formally launched this morning with a “groundmaking” ceremony to kick off the construction phase of this highly anticipated phase of the development of The Presidio.

San Francisco is breaking ground on a new park that will be built on top of the Presido Parkway near the Golden Gate Bridge. 

Chris Lehnertz, President and CEO of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, was recently honored with the Fran P. Mainella Award by the Clemson University Institute for Parks in recognition of her long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion in our nation’s parks.

An installation along a popular Southern Marin path aims to combine reading and outdoor fun while stoking discussion about climate change and preservation.

America’s national parks are often imagined as faraway destinations for special vacations. We’ve set aside places like Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and Yellowstone as getaways unrivaled in majesty and glory. I worked in many of these parks during my 12 years with the National Park Service and have often reflected on President Franklin Roosevelt’s reminder that the fundamental idea behind national parks is “the enrichment of the lives of all of us.”

Learn why doctors are prescribing nature to patients, and how The Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, in collaboration with the San Francisco Veterans’ Medical Center, support the VA W.A.R.I.O.R. Program which seeks to improve Veterans’ mental health and wellness by prescribing time in nature.

As rates of chronic disease among children have skyrocketed over the past few decades, pediatricians have increasingly looked for solutions beyond the clinic. Sometimes that means actually prescribing time outside. Special correspondent Cat Wise reports from Oakland on the medical evidence that indicates escaping modern urban life, even temporarily, can yield health dividends.

Alcatraz, known as the Rock, was once among America’s most fearsome prisons, cut off from the free world on a windswept island in San Francisco Bay. Today it is a national park, visited by 1.4m tourists a year, who amble around the famous cellblocks and take selfies against the bars. Until October, if they venture to a derelict building on the island’s north side, they will also encounter giant images of serving and former prisoners.

Piano chords broke through the roaring wind at Fort Point in San Francisco on Friday as Karl Reichstetter performed a spur-of-the-moment rooftop rendition of Rihanna’s “Stay” for an audience of two.

You've seen pianos nestled in the flora at the San Francisco Botanical Garden, providing unassuming stages to any talented (or amateur) passerby. Now you can find them tucked away somewhere even more unusual: underneath the Golden Gate Bridge.

“Slow it, spread it, sink it.” It’s the guiding concept for the restoration of Roy’s Redwoods Open Space Preserve, a project underway by the county with help from One Tam.