Day Trip Adventure: Spreckels Bison Loop
Enjoy the model boats at Spreckels Lake, hike around the Bison Paddock, Walk around North Lake, and visit the Fly Casting Pools
This is part of a series of family-oriented day trip outings around the San Francisco Bay Area I look forward to enjoying with my kids once social distancing and shelter in place isn’t the norm any longer.
Spreckels Lake by Cody Tolmasoff
Spreckels Bison Loop — Bonus Golden Gate Park Adventure
Growing up in the sunset, my childhood dog would love a ride to the dog run behind the Bison Paddock and Spreckels Lake. She would go nuts when we got close to Spreckels Lake. After a romp in the fenced-in area of the dog run, we would often have a walk around the Bison or the lake to wind down. Coming here always reminds me of her excitement.
This is a pleasant area of the park to walk around, mostly flat and a lot of eye-catching things to see. Have you had a chance to visit the Model Yacht Clubhouse?
Adventure: Spreckels Bison Loop in Golden Gate Park
Enjoy the model boats at Spreckels Lake
Hike around the Bison Paddock
Walk around North Lake
Visit the Fly Casting Pools
Visit the San Francisco Model Yacht Club
Boats inside of the San Francisco Model Yacht Club by Cody Tolmasoff
I think anyone who visits Spreckels Lake immediately has their inner child squeal with excitement when they see the model boats on the water. The details and working of these tiny boats are remarkable. I especially love the sailboats with their remote controls that run the sails and rudder. The powerboats are fun to watch too.
If you have the opportunity to tour the clubhouse across the street, do it. There are so many great boats inside, and it’s remarkable how big they actually are. Check the website for cruising times and clubhouse hours. Often if you simply show up, you will probably see some kind of boat operating.
Hike around the Bison Paddock
Often people only stop on JFK Drive to see the bison here, but there is a trail that goes all around the enclosure. The bison often move around the paddock, so give yourself the opportunity to walk around it to get the best view. I like walking back down by the dog run and petanque courts (head down the road next to the Model Boat Clubhouse and go west), and walk around the back of the paddock that way.
Before we had the San Francisco Zoo, Golden Gate Park had a menagerie of animals brought in to attract visitors. Most of the animals were eventually moved to the zoo, but the buffalo had a better spot here so the SF Zoo maintains the health and feeding of the bison here in the park.
While the term Buffalo and Bison are used interchangeably, there is a difference — and these are Bison. Buffalo are native to Asia and Africa while Bison are native to north and south America. Bison also have a “beard” as they live in colder climates (like Wyoming or the west end of Golden Gate Park), while Buffalo doesn’t have a “beard”.
Walk around North Lake
FoundSF
http://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=Golden_Gate_Park_Lakes
South Lake, Middle Lake, and North Lake make up the Chain of Lakes in Golden Gate Park. These were originally seasonal lakes in the sandy landscape here before the park. These marshy areas along with another where the soccer fields between the windmills are where what clued in John McLaren that there was water that could be pumped for irrigation purposes at the west end of the park. Most of the lakes in Golden Gate Park are manmade and took a lot of work to create. The Chain of Lakes simply needed a reliable water source, which happened once the windmills were built.
North Lake is the lake on the Richmond side of the park and is a pleasant walk. At one time, there were bridges to the small islands in these lakes.
Visit the Fly Casting Pools
Angling and Casting Club in Golden Gate Park by Cody Tolmasoff
The Golden Gate Angling and Casting Club is actually world-renowned, in fly casting circles. Many national tournaments are held here. The clubhouse and pools were a WPA (Works Progress Administration) project in 1938, and the club was founded in 1894 in a modified shed next to Stow Lake. You’ll often see people out here practicing. Although the club is not accessible to the public, if you have the invitation, take a tour. It’s beautiful inside.
Cody Tolmasoff is an author and publisher for Adventuring.in. He is a recovering programmer and a San Francisco native, raising two daughters, and regularly finding new adventures around the SF Bay Area. This article is an excerpt from a book, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park West.
Find him on Twitter @codyo, and read his most recent title Adventures in Getting Out on Amazon, filled with advice on successfully getting your family out for day trip adventures.
Originally published on Medium on 7 May 2020