Park

Information on this page is from the San Francisco Recreation and Parks website, and Google Maps.
San Francisco Recreation and Parks

SF Recreation and Parks - Natural Areas Program

The park is located on Bernal Heights Blvd., San Francisco, CA 94110
Google Maps LINK- Bernal Hill Park

The park is Wheelchair accessible and there is On-site Parking.
Overall size of the park is 26.34 acres.

Habitat Restoration
Bernal Heights Park is one of the city's 35 Natural Areas, it is managed by the San Francisco Recreation and Park's Natural Areas Program. Created in 1985, NAP's mission is to restore San Francisco's ancient wild landscape of grasslands, plants, trees and wildlife and remove invasive species caused by urban development.

In 1973, Bernal Heights residents Barbara, and Roland Pitschel began organizing volunteer projects on Bernal Hill with the Neighborhood Grasslands Restoration Project, along with Jake Sigg from the California Native Plant Society. Originally the work concentrated on park beautification and trash removal, but gradually the focus turned more to invasive plant removal.

In 1980 the group received official authorization from the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department to pursue grassland habitat restoration, the first project of its kind in the city.

Today, the Natural Areas Program and the Bernal Hilltop Restoration Project are working together to preserve and restore Bernal Hill's natural history. Through invasive plant removal, re-vegetation with native species, erosion control and biological monitoring, they hope to re-establish the indigenous, healthy grassland ecosystem of Bernal Hill. Original plant residents such as purple needlegrass, yarrow, field iris and lupine are being restored; fennel, wild radish, Italian rye and yellow oxalis are among the plants being removed

Photographs by Gail Williams, © 2011
Above: a view looking west toward the top of the hill from Bernal Heights Boulevard.
Below: White dog enjoying southeast view from the hilltop.

Return to Bernal Hill Park is a special place, gailwilliamsart.com