Start on Haight Street, climb Buena Vista Park, then cut through the Panhandle into Golden Gate Park, where a carousel and two museums are waiting. It's a hilly walk, so wear shoes you can climb in. Haight Street runs right up to the park, so it all connects.
The Haight sits at the doorstep of Golden Gate Park. This plan starts on Haight Street, climbs Buena Vista Park, then walks into the park for a carousel and two museums. Sights come from our Haight-Ashbury neighborhood page.
From our Haight-Ashbury neighborhood page. Hours there were checked on the dates shown on the linked pages.
- MorningHaight and Ashbury cornerThe corner that names the neighborhood, with Upper Haight’s shops and restaurants. The Grateful Dead’s former house at 710 Ashbury is a private home, so look from the street.
- BreakfastPork Store Cafe or ZaziePork Store Cafe is at 1451 Haight; Zazie is at 941 Cole St and uses a first-come waitlist kiosk. Check hours before going.
- Late morningBuena Vista ParkThe city’s oldest park, with winding trails and a coast live oak grove. Open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. per our page.
- MiddayThe PanhandleA park three-quarters of a mile long that joins Golden Gate Park.
- AfternoonKoret Children’s Quarter & CarouselPlayground and a 1914 carousel; rides $2.50 adults, $1 ages 6 to 12 per our page.
- Late afternoonJapanese Tea Garden and de Young MuseumBoth in the park.
Route Map
See also our Haight-Ashbury neighborhood page and the things to do there this weekend.
More Plans
Local Legend: “Bear”, the Grateful Dead’s Sound Wizard, Haight-Ashbury
What is actually true: Owsley Stanley was real. The Owsley Stanley Foundation says he was “known as Bear to his friends”, and that his tapes, now called Bear’s Sonic Journals, hold more than 1,300 live soundboard recordings. The Associated Press reported that he was the Grateful Dead’s sound engineer and inspired the band’s dancing bear logo. New Atlas says he designed the Wall of Sound, “the largest concert sound system in existence at the time”, first used in full at the Cow Palace on March 23, 1974, and co-designed the skull-and-lightning-bolt logo with artist Bob Thomas. The darker side of the legend is true too: the AP says he made LSD in the 1960s and served about two years in prison. He died in a car crash in Australia in 2011. Where the “Bear” nickname came from is not confirmed.
The Editors’ TakeProbably True
Most of this holds up, and the sources are specific about it. The Owsley Stanley Foundation counts more than 1,300 live soundboard recordings in his tapes, and New Atlas credits him with the Wall of Sound. Where the nickname came from is not confirmed, and we would rather say so than guess.
Our editors landed 7-1 on Probably True.
If you go: There is no Bear site to visit, but our Haight-Ashbury day walks the neighborhood.