Glen Canyon Park from Above
(scroll to bottom for photo gallery)
Location: To start your walk in Glen Canyon Park from above, find Christopher Playground, at 5210 Diamond Heights Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94131
Starting Point: Christopher Playground is a short drop down from the Diamond Heights Shopping Center on Diamond Heights Blvd in San Francisco. Walk past the playground area and out past the open sports field to the crest of the hill. You will be at the opening vista point with trails leading down into the park.
Info links:
For all web links, if a link doesn’t jump directly, copy and paste into browser.
Glen Canyon Park info links:
http://sfrecpark.org/destination/glen-park/
http://sfrecpark.org/destination/glen-park/glen-park-natural-areas/
Glen Canyon Park trail map:
http://sfrecpark.org/wp-content/uploads/Glen-Canyon.pdf
Distance:
Glen Canyon Park is a 60 acre wilderness space. The trails crisscross and circle around most of those 60 acres. Choose any distance you feel up for. Starting from above, you can take a short walk starting at Christopher Playground and descend only to the first vista stop bench, or you can make an approximately 2 mile loop along stairs and paths to the Recreation Center, along the lower trails to the northwest end, and back up through rock formations to the top again (or the reverse, of course).
Considerations:
• Starting from above Glen Canyon Park, toilet facilities are available at Christopher Playground, and also below at the Glen Park Recreation Center and Playground.
• Dogs are allowed on leash.
• Use common sense for parking from above Glen Canyon Park. The shopping area parking lot with closest access is marked as being for customers, and there is street parking.
• Pay attention to any posted wildlife notices (coyotes being of note in recent times).
The trail:
Glen Canyon Park is beautiful starting from either direction, the bottom or the top, but this post describes starting from the top.
From the hillcrest at the end of the sports field area of Christopher Playground, you can see a short drop down to a bench at a dramatic vista point. There is a great view from there. You can then follow pathways and stairs downward, with various options for turning one way or another across the hills. We tend to veer toward the Saddle Rock Outcrop area at the right when we start from above.
Glen Canyon Park is a popular spot for rock climbers due to the rock formations dotting its 60 acres. (See trail map for rock outcrop markers.)
The upper trails are open, with little tree cover. Footsteps are aided by stairways along some stretches. The further you descend, the more tree cover you will find, including shady areas over one of the only free running creeks in San Francisco, Islais Creek, if you go all the way down. (Glen Canyon Park from Below is now an available post.)
It is remarkable how rough and rugged this city park can feel. Some of the rock formations give an old Western movie ambience.
Wildlife sighting opportunities include California alligator lizards and San Francisco garter snakes, The dry, rocky soil also means interesting succulent plants and lichen are in view in the upper trail rock formation areas.
Full of dramatic visual offerings under gray skies or blue, any time of day, I especially like the long shadows and colors of dusk at the end of a blue sky day.
(Glen Canyon Park from Above Hike Notes were originally paired with the “Lengthening Shadows” Insights post.)
Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Browse hikes on the main Hikes page or on the Hike Search by Area page. Check out selected articles and interviews under Media. Click World Walks to see or share favorite family-friendly walks! Stay in touch with Lisa Louis and HikingAutism via Contact. See products with inspiring designs that support the efforts of HikingAutism under Support/Shop. The Links page lists a loose collection of helpful information links.
Check the Home page for the broader background story. If you’re not able to take one of these Northern California hikes, hopefully you can enjoy the photo galleries at the bottom of each hike page! Feel free to share and follow on Facebook at HikingAutism, follow on Twitter at @HikingAutism and Instagram at lisalouis777
(scroll to bottom for photo gallery)
Location: To start your walk in Glen Canyon Park from above, find Christopher Playground, at 5210 Diamond Heights Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94131
Starting Point: Christopher Playground is a short drop down from the Diamond Heights Shopping Center on Diamond Heights Blvd in San Francisco. Walk past the playground area and out past the open sports field to the crest of the hill. You will be at the opening vista point with trails leading down into the park.
Info links:
For all web links, if a link doesn’t jump directly, copy and paste into browser.
Glen Canyon Park info links:
http://sfrecpark.org/destination/glen-park/
http://sfrecpark.org/destination/glen-park/glen-park-natural-areas/
Glen Canyon Park trail map:
http://sfrecpark.org/wp-content/uploads/Glen-Canyon.pdf
Distance:
Glen Canyon Park is a 60 acre wilderness space. The trails crisscross and circle around most of those 60 acres. Choose any distance you feel up for. Starting from above, you can take a short walk starting at Christopher Playground and descend only to the first vista stop bench, or you can make an approximately 2 mile loop along stairs and paths to the Recreation Center, along the lower trails to the northwest end, and back up through rock formations to the top again (or the reverse, of course).
Considerations:
• Starting from above Glen Canyon Park, toilet facilities are available at Christopher Playground, and also below at the Glen Park Recreation Center and Playground.
• Dogs are allowed on leash.
• Use common sense for parking from above Glen Canyon Park. The shopping area parking lot with closest access is marked as being for customers, and there is street parking.
• Pay attention to any posted wildlife notices (coyotes being of note in recent times).
The trail:
Glen Canyon Park is beautiful starting from either direction, the bottom or the top, but this post describes starting from the top.
From the hillcrest at the end of the sports field area of Christopher Playground, you can see a short drop down to a bench at a dramatic vista point. There is a great view from there. You can then follow pathways and stairs downward, with various options for turning one way or another across the hills. We tend to veer toward the Saddle Rock Outcrop area at the right when we start from above.
Glen Canyon Park is a popular spot for rock climbers due to the rock formations dotting its 60 acres. (See trail map for rock outcrop markers.)
The upper trails are open, with little tree cover. Footsteps are aided by stairways along some stretches. The further you descend, the more tree cover you will find, including shady areas over one of the only free running creeks in San Francisco, Islais Creek, if you go all the way down. (Glen Canyon Park from Below is now an available post.)
It is remarkable how rough and rugged this city park can feel. Some of the rock formations give an old Western movie ambience.
Wildlife sighting opportunities include California alligator lizards and San Francisco garter snakes, The dry, rocky soil also means interesting succulent plants and lichen are in view in the upper trail rock formation areas.
Full of dramatic visual offerings under gray skies or blue, any time of day, I especially like the long shadows and colors of dusk at the end of a blue sky day.
(Glen Canyon Park from Above Hike Notes were originally paired with the “Lengthening Shadows” Insights post.)
Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Browse hikes on the main Hikes page or on the Hike Search by Area page. Check out selected articles and interviews under Media. Click World Walks to see or share favorite family-friendly walks! Stay in touch with Lisa Louis and HikingAutism via Contact. See products with inspiring designs that support the efforts of HikingAutism under Support/Shop. The Links page lists a loose collection of helpful information links.
Check the Home page for the broader background story. If you’re not able to take one of these Northern California hikes, hopefully you can enjoy the photo galleries at the bottom of each hike page! Feel free to share and follow on Facebook at HikingAutism, follow on Twitter at @HikingAutism and Instagram at lisalouis777
