The key to turning shifting dunes into the green oasis of Golden Gate Park.

The seawater playground of gilded-era San Francisco burned to the ground in 1966.

A 300-ship graveyard, with a few still visible at low tide.

A winding path built in secret on the edge of the continent.

Sitting atop San Francisco's tallest hill, a cross honors the victims of the Armenian genocide.

An artsy hidden staircase leads to breathtaking views of San Francisco.

San Francisco's urban bison herd has persisted in the face of extinction, development, and disease.

Perfect your fly fishing technique on their practice ponds.

An elaborate gift from Claus Spreckels is now a piece of San Francisco history.

Relics of the 1894 Midwinter Exposition continue to delight visitors today.

Olfactory delights in San Francisco's Botanical Gardens.

Golden Gate Park's historic collection of plants.

Inside an old airplane hangar, friends and strangers alike play on a massive trampoline.

The last remaining relic of San Francisco's glittering 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition.

One of few lasting examples of the brief octagon craze that developed into folly.

A century and a half of research in the sciences and natural history, still going strong.

San Francisco’s condensed garden of incredible plant growth.

A 90-acre park on former landfill that hosts an annual kite festival.

Carnivorous plants, medieval aphrodisiacs, and the largest original wood structure glass conservatory in the western hemisphere.

This one-block alleyway is stuffed with street art that is colorful, cultural, and intensely political.

This shop specializes in oddities and Victorian-inspired wonders.

San Francisco’s century-old Christmas Tree.

The best place in the park to test out your throwing arm.

The giant pair of sexy legs sticking out the window of this costume store have become its main draw.