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Candlestick Point State Recreation Area This is a centrally located park you can get to on a bus or with a short drive and watch birds, have a picnic, walk your dog or fly a kite. I'd never heard of it until I was assigned to review it for Bay Nature Magazine's Winter 2010 issue, and it was a revelation to wander in solitude along the maze of mostly accessible paths in the "undeveloped" north section. I've reprinted my description below. The access is fine, with the caveat that parking and restrooms are currently closed on Thursdays and Fridays due to budget cuts, and if you come by bus, take care if you are tempted to shortcut across the parking lot at the north end of the park, where some of the gravel is loose enough to be a hazard to a wheelchair. |
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The main restroom, the only one open when we were there, is accessible except for its heavy doors. The access link above has detailed information about useability of the various picnic areas. |
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From BAY NATURE MAGAZINE, Jan-Mar 2010: Whatever the old stadium's current name, the land it sits on remains Candlestick Point. Here, an "underutilized" state park includes landscaped picnic grounds and acres of raggedy overgrown landfill ideal for wetlands restoration--or luxury housing. The current, controversial plan is to sell 23 acres for development, to fund maintenance and improvement of the remaining 97 acres, including wildlife habitat enhancement of landfill around Yosemite Slough.
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Details:
Take the Candlestick Park 429a exit from Highway 101 to the entrance
across from the stadium, or ride Muni #29 to Gilman at Giants Drive.
Free, except for parking fee on 49ers game days, and open to bikes and
dogs. There are two fishing piers, but one was closed when I was there;
the other had a rough spot at its start (uneven concrete surfacing)
but was otherwise accessible though, as I have come to expect, the railing
obstructed the view from a wheelchair.
On
sunny weekends, you'll often find a lively mix of people picnicking,
fishing, and windsurfing here, but when we visited on a recent Thursday,
the parking lot and most restrooms were closed; state budget cuts mean
the lot is open only Saturday through Wednesday. We parked along Hunters
Point Expressway and entered on foot, enjoying the eerie absence of
bicyclists and joggers. The tide was in and rafts of waterfowl floated
on choppy water very near the broken-concrete seawall where we walked.
Horned grebes and ruddy ducks like gaudy bath toys bobbed in the shallow
water just off a beach suitable for wading or launching a kayak or sailboard.
There are grassy wind-sheltered picnic areas, fishing piers, and a maze
of trails winding among cypress, oak, and pine north past abandoned
concrete escarpments, where goldfinches forage in tall grass and meadowlarks
fly up from feral scrub.--Ann Sieck