Baker Beach is a state and national public beach on the Pacific Ocean coast, on the San Francisco peninsula. It is roughly 1/2 mile long, beginning just south of Golden Gate Point (where the Golden Gate Bridge connects to the San Francisco Peninsula), extending southward toward the Seacliff peninsula and the Palace of the Legion of Honor and the Sutro Baths.

Baker Beach is part of the Presidio, which was a military base from the founding of San Francisco by the Spanish in 1776 until 1997. When the Presidio was decommissioned as a U.S. Army base, it became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which is administered by the National Park Service.

Baker Beach was the original site of the Burning Man art festival. Its north end (nearest the Golden Gate Bridge) is a well-known nudist beach.

A shark attack happened on Baker Beach on May 7,1959, a crowded date on Baker Beach.[1] Albert Kogler Jr., 18 of age, was swimming in 15 feet of water. Then a Great White Shark took his life.[2] This is the only shark attack recorded on Baker Beach. This attack was very rare, because sharks like the Great White do not go into the San Francisco Bay. The only sharks in the San Francisco bay are bottom-dwellers, who do not attack humans.

The Conservatory of Flowers is one of the world's largest conservatories built of traditional wood and glass panes. It was prefabricated for local entrepreneur James Lick for his Santa Clara, California, estate but was still in its crates when he died in 1876. A group of San Franciscans bought it and offered it to the city, and it was erected in Golden Gate Park and opened to the public in 1879. In 1883, a boiler exploded and the main dome caught fire. A restoration was undertaken by Southern Pacific magnate Charles Crocker. It survived the earthquake of 1906 only to suffer another fire in 1918. In 1933 it was declared unsound and closed to the public, only to be reopened in 1946. In 1995, after a severe storm with 100 mph (160 km/h) winds damaged the structure, shattering 40% of the glass, the conservatory had to be closed again. It was cautiously dissected for repairs and finally reopened in September 2003.

Named for M. H. de Young, the San Francisco newspaper magnate, the De Young Museum was opened January 1921. Its original building had been part of The California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894, of which Mr. de Young was the director. The de Young has been completely rebuilt and re-opened in 2005.

Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, is a large urban park. At 1017 acres (4.1 km², 1.6 mi²), it is in the shape of a long rectangle, similar in shape but 174 acres (0.7 km², 0.27 mi²) larger than Central Park in New York. With 13 million visitors annually, Golden Gate is the third most visited city park in America (after Central Park and Lincoln Park in Chicago).

The San Francisco Botanical Garden (formerly Strybing Arboretum) is a large botanical garden in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Its 55 acres (22.3 ha) include over 7,500 varieties of plants from around the world, making it one of the largest on the West Coast of the United States.

Originally laid out in the 1890s by park supervisor John McLaren, funding was insufficient to begin construction until Helene Strybing willed funds in 1926. Planting was begun in 1937 with WPA funds supplemented by local donations, and the arboretum officially opened in May of 1940. As a part of Golden Gate Park, it is officially managed by the city of San Francisco, but the SF Botanical Garden Society plays an important role in providing educational programs. Formed in 1955, the SF Botanical Garden Society (formerly the Strybing Arboretum Society) operates the Helen Crocker Russell Library of Horticulture, a bookstore, monthly plant sales and offers a wide range of community education programs for children and adults. The Society also raises money for new projects and Garden renovations. Using green building practices, a new Center for Sustainable Gardening is planned to replace the existing nursery. Other planned renovations include a Southeast Asian Cloud Forest and newly paved pathways.

The Garden continues to actively acquire plants; in 2004 it received 1143 accessions totalling over 5,600 individual plants.

It was the site of the finish line on the popular reality show The Amazing Race: All-Stars.

Spreckels Lake is located on the northern side of the park near 36th Avenue. One can usually find model yachts sailing on Spreckels Lake. Many of these are of the type used before the advent of the modern radio controlled model. The yachts are set up by their owners, and most include either an auxiliary wind vane or main sheet linkage to control the rudder in response to varying wind conditions. The yachts are then released, and pole handlers will walk down each side of the lake with a padded pole to prevent the yachts from colliding with the lake edge. The lake has been specifically designed for this type of operation, as it has a vertical edging (allowing the yachts to closely approach the shore) and a paved walkway around the entire edge. At one location near a grassy area, "duckling ramps" allow young wildlife to leave the pond safely.

Stow Lake surrounds the prominent Strawberry Hill, now an island with an electrically pumped waterfall. Rowboats, pedalboats, and electrically powered boats can be rented at the boathouse. Much of the western portion of San Francisco can be seen from the top of this hill, which at its top contains one of the reservoirs that supply a network of high-pressure water mains that exclusively supply specialized fire hydrants throughout the city.

The Music Concourse is an open area with three water fountains surrounded with maple trees positioned uniformly. There is also a stage on the east side. The buildings near the concourse area include The California Academy of Sciences and De Young Museum.

In 2003, the Music Concourse is also undergoing a series improvements to include an underground 800-car parking garage, narrowing of the roadways in the Music Concourse, the addition of bike lanes, and the elimination of existing surface parking.