Golden Gate Park’s “Old Growth Forest” Dedication & Walk | SF

Submitted by the Event Organizer

While most of Golden Gate Park has been landscaped with lawns, flowerbeds and other ornamental features, a few remnants of San Francisco’s oak woodlands still exist. The northeast corner of Golden Gate Park is home to some of the oldest coast live oak trees in San Francisco.

On Saturday, The Oak Woodlands Natural Area of the park will be formally recognized as part of the Old-Growth Forest Network (OGFN). The OGFN identifies and helps to protect old and growing forest in throughout the United States.

Golden Gate Park’s “Old Growth Forest” Dedication Party
Saturday, March 14, 2015 | 10am
Meet behind the Conservatory of Flowers.
FREE

Brief remarks will be followed by a walk and volunteer work party at the Oak Woodlands. Contact recparkvolunteer@sfgov.org for more info

The Oak Woodlands that are located in the north east corner of Golden Gate Park, the coast live oak, Quercus agrifolia, is really one of the very few indigenous trees in San Francisco County that existed here before European colonization. There are 3 major areas where these old-growth coast live oak woodlands occur: Golden Gate Park, Buena Vista Park, and the Presidio. The groves in Golden Gate Park are the largest of the three, and there is documentation that the trees pre-date the development of Golden Gate Park.

When Golden Gate Park was started in 1871 approximately fifty acres of wooded oak areas were left as ‘wilderness.’ The trees, a historic remnant of an earlier landscape, were eventually cut for fuel but they re-sprouted and some of the trees in the woodlands today are from those sprouts. The trees have not yet regained their maximum size. Some of the groves have a scattered over-story of human introduced non-indigenous trees such as the blue gum eucalyptus and the Monterey pine and cypress. Invasive species have changed the nature of the woodland, but restoration efforts are gradually re-introducing some of the supporting understory and bringing it closer to its native condition.

Photo: FoundSF and sfrecpark.org

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.