Press Kit

About GGNRA

Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA), one of the largest national parks in an urban area, preserves and enhances the natural, historic, scenic and recreational resources of the lands north and south of the Golden Gate for the education, enjoyment and inspiration of people today and in the future. In the spirit of bringing national parks to the people, the park reaches out to diverse communities to promote the richness and breadth of the national park system and make Golden Gate a park for all. The park's many volunteer and partnership programs foster broad-based public stewardship.

Established by Congress in 1972 as part of the Parks for the People movement, GGNRA includes under its management two additional units of the National Park Service: Fort Point National Historic Site and Muir Woods National Monument.

GGNRA spans three counties: Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo. With more than 15 million annual visitors, the park is both an international destination and a local treasure for the 7 million people who call the Bay Area home.

The park includes world-renowned destinations such as Alcatraz Island and Muir Woods, as well as many sites of regional and national importance, such as Crissy Field, the Presidio Marin Headlands, Stinson Beach, Fort Mason, Ocean Beach, Fort Funston, Sweeney Ridge, and Mori Point.

GGNRA has one of the largest collections of historic buildings of any national park and dozens of plant and animal species that are accorded state or federal protected status. The park is part of the United Nations-designated Golden Gate International Biosphere Reserve.

Partnership is one of the watchwords of the park, with a number of outstanding nonprofit organizations working with the park to make available a wide variety of programs. The Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy is the official support organization for the park, providing an extraordinary level of funds and assistance each year.

The park operates under Federal, Department of the Interior, and National Park Service policies and guidelines, in accordance with a General Management Plan (GMP) which was first published in 1980 and updated in 2014.

Park management includes a General Superintendent, Deputy General Superintendent, and a number of operating and administrative divisions. The park's budget includes annual federal appropriations, capital and special purpose project funding, fee funds, and donated funds. Park staffing is augmented by a high level of volunteerism, generally exceeding 350,000 hours of volunteer service per year.

 

By the Numbers

Data is cumulative of Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Fort Point National Historic Site, and Muir Woods National Monument.

• Visitation Data: Golden Gate, Fort Point, & Muir Woods.
• 1,439 historic structures and 5 National Historic Landmark Sites
• 13 National Register of Historic Places and 9 Cultural Landscapes
• 370 archeological sites and 5 lighthouses
• 387 facilities assigned to partners, concessioners, and lessees
• 3,947 plant and animal species, including 38 threatened or endangered
• A significant portion of the UNESCO-designated Golden Gate International Biosphere Reserve
• 19 separate ecosystems in 7 distinct watersheds
• 91 miles of bay and ocean shoreline
• 68 miles of roads and 116 miles of trails
• Home to the largest museum collection in the National Park System

 

Park Mission

The mission of Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) is to preserve and enhance the natural, historic, and scenic resources of the lands north and south of the Golden Gate for the education, recreation, and inspiration of people today and in the future. In the spirit of bringing national parks to the people, we reach out to a diverse urban community, promote the richness and breadth of the national park system to many who are experiencing a national park for the first time, and foster broad-based public stewardship through various volunteer and partnership programs.

 

Management Documents

Click the links below to read the park's first General Management Plan, finalized in 1980; and the new General Management Plan/Final Environmental Impact Statement, released in April 2014.

• 1980 General Management Plan
• 2014 Final General Management Plan
• • Volume I (PDF, 30 MB)
  • Volume II (PDF, 33 MB)

To learn more about the park's vision for Interpretation & Education, download a copy of our latest Comprehensive Interpretive Plan:

• Presidio Interpretive Plan (PDF, 11.8 MB)
  
• GGNRA Long Range Interpretive Plan (PDF, 12 MB)

 

Photos