Hi All,

My husband and I are visiting San Francisco beginning of August with our 4 month old and 3 year old. We'll be renting a car and want to see Golden Gate Park on Sunday b/c of the free concert. We'd also like to see the kids' playground and rent a boat on Stow Lake.

Few questions-

1. I assume the concert is free and kids are allowed- am I correct?

2. I hear JFK Dr. is closed to cars on Sundays- will this make it hard to get to the things we want to see in the park by car? Walking will be hard with such young kids as according to mapquest each site is almost a mile apart.

3. Do people bring such young kids on the rental boats?

Thanks for any info.

1. concert free? Yes. Kids allowed? Yes. Bring a sheet or a blanket, find a shady spot, have a picnic.

2. For parking - go along Martin Luther King Dr and try and find the Japanese (Hagiwara) Tea Gardens and park as close as possible to it. The place where the concerts are given, the Music Concourse, is very close to the Japanese Gardens. Not far for the kids to walk. They also might enjoy visiting the Tea Gardens (for a fee) and climb the moon bridge.

Alternatively, if you want to pay for parking, you can enter the GG Park from the 10th Street (at Fulton Street) entrance and get into the underground parking at the De Young Museum. The De Young Museum faces the Music Concourse. However, if you can find free parking along Martin Luther King Dr, that would be better.

3. The road leading to Stowe Lake is very difficult to find. If you continue along Martin Luther King Dr away from the Japanese Gardens and the Music Concourse, there will be a road about 1/4 to 1/2 mile up MLK DR, which road leads uphill. Take that road which will take you (one way) around Stowe Lake. There's a rental shack, you can't miss it. you can rent paddle boats, canoes, people-powered surreys, etc. there.

4. The kids playground. I assume you mean the one near the merry-go-round. You can drive there as there is a parking lot dedicated to that playground.

Stowe Lake and the Music Concourse are within easy walking distance of each other. I don't believe the Children's Playground is a mile away from the Concourse, but driving from one place to another could be difficult because finding parking in the Park on a summer Sunday is tough in these areas as they are the most popular.

Thanks so much- very helpful!

Thought of another question- any restrooms near the Music Concourse or boat rentals?

Thanks!

You might consider renting bikes with a kid trailer in order to avoid the whole searching for parking. This is how many locals with small kids enjoy the Park on Sundays. I know places like Blazing Saddles rents them with their bikes.

There are bathrooms in both locations.

On Sundays you can drive up to Tea Gardens? ET, do you remember the road will be closed, opened only for buses!!

There are benches by the music stand and easy to find a shade, if you bring a blanket for a picnic, you'll need sunblock.

Restrooms are there... I don't know where and how clean, maybe even portable.

The restrooms behind the Concourse were fine this morning when I was walking the dog. Not portable and clean.

BTW the road in front of the Tea Garden and the De Young is officially closed to all traffic all the time except for pick ups and drop offs. MLK which runs south of the Tea Garden is open to traffic. JFK to the north is closed on Sundays and is now closed in part on Saturdays.

Good to know

Thanks to SAB for clearer directions.

I've never seen MLK closed.

Yes, the road immediately in front of the Tea Garden is closed. I've not seen it be open to any kind of traffic except for the big buses parked in the parking lot across from it - not since the old De Young was torn down. There used to be an oval drive - never mind!

JFK has usually been closed to through traffic for us, but I haven't taken notice of which dates.