The Great Highway has been park space since 1874. The original vision was to make the oceanfront space “more than just an auxiliary” to Golden Gate Park. In fact, the Great Highway has the distinction of being one of San Francisco’s first parks, alongside Golden Gate, Mountain Lake, and Buena Vista parks.

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With the the popularity of automobile “pleasure driving” as recreation in the early 1900s, cars took over Great Highway Park. It became a commuter bypass road separating the City from its coast.

Keeping a roadway open next to coastal sand dunes has proven challenging. The modern Great Highway is closed to car traffic 27 times per year, many of them for multiple days. Moving enough sand to keep the roadway open full-time costs at least $1.7M annually.

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As the threat of rising sea levels only intensifies, we must reassess our coastal priorities.

The San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR) led a multi-agency study of the area to address sea level rise, protect city infrastructure, restore coastal ecosystems, and improve public access to the coast.

The resulting Ocean Beach Master Plan, published in 2012, called for several actions, including reimagining at least part of the Great Highway as a park space for people to enjoy the coastline and ceding the rest for dune expansion.

SPUR’s first recommendation, rerouting the eroding Great Highway “Extension” (South of Sloat) to behind the Zoo, is already being implemented.

The study also called for weekly “Sunday Street” park time on Great Highway, which was not implemented; this left only one “Sunday Street” each year (beginning in 2009) when the Great Highway - and the coastline - was accessible to people en masse to walk, bike, skate, or play to the sound of waves rather than rushing cars.

In response to the COVID pandemic in 2020, San Francisco closed the Great Highway to car traffic to provide space for safe recreation.

The popularity of the closure showcased the potential to make the coastline accessible and enjoyable for activities other than driving. In 2022, City Supervisors voted to formalize a pilot Great Highway Park through the end of 2025, with park hours weekly from noon Fridays through Mondays at 6 am.

Learn More about visiting the park

Since the COVID-era introduction of Great Highway Park, over 3 million visits have been tracked, with thousands more visiting every weekend.

The park has emerged as a unique community space, hosting free community events like the Great Hauntway, San Francisco’s largest car-free trick-or-treating event.

By simply opening and closing gates to cars, Great Highway Park has become one of the City’s most visited public parks. The coast is finally open. Imagine the potential as a real park.

If you want a more complete history of the Great Highway and its use as a park space over time, we love this three-piece installment of the Western Neighborhoods Project’s Outsidelandz podcast

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