Buena Vista Park is a

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

in the

Haight-Ashbury Haight-Ashbury () is a district of San Francisco, California, named for the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets. It is also called The Haight and The Upper Haight. The neighborhood is known as one of the main centers of the counterculture ...

and Buena Vista Heights neighborhoods of

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. It is the oldest official park in San Francisco, established in 1867 as Hill Park, later renamed Buena Vista. It is bounded by

Haight Street Haight Street () is the principal street in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district, also known as the Upper Haight due to its elevation. The street stretches from Market Street, through the Lower Haight neighborhood, to Stanyan Street in the Up ...

to the north, and by Buena Vista Avenue West and Buena Vista Avenue East. The park is on a steep hill that peaks at , and covers . The lowest section is the north end along Haight.

Layout

The hill on which the park lies is composed primarily of sand and San Francisco chert, formed in the Mesozoic era. The layout of the park uses the steepness of the hill to good advantage, offering good views of the city (particularly to the north). Buena Vista Park headstone

At the peak of the park is a small lawn. Notable views are available from various lookouts lower down, including "The Window," an overlook on the western side of the hill from which there is a sweeping vista of

Golden Gate Park Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, United States, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. It is administered by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department, which began in 1871 to oversee the development ...

, the Pacific Ocean, and, on clear days, northward up the coast to the white cliffs of

Drake's Bay Drakes Bay (Coast Miwok: ''Tamál-Húye'') is a wide bay named so by U.S. surveyor George Davidson in 1875 along the Point Reyes National Seashore on the coast of northern California in the United States, approximately northwest of San Fra ...

. The paths along the west side are lined with gutters built by

WPA WPA may refer to: Computing *Wi-Fi Protected Access, a wireless encryption standard *Windows Product Activation, in Microsoft software licensing * Wireless Public Alerting (Alert Ready), emergency alerts over LTE in Canada * Windows Performance An ...

workers out of broken

headstone A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, da ...

s from the City's Victorian cemeteries at Lone Mountain Cemetery, which were moved to Colma in the 1930s. In a few cases the inscriptions were placed facing up and can be discerned (''Cf.'' the Wave Organ). The northeast corner staircase features a large

peace symbol A number of peace symbols have been used many ways in various cultures and contexts. The dove and olive branch was used symbolically by early Christians and then eventually became a secular peace symbol, popularized by a ''Dove'' lithograph b ...

(the classic

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nuc ...

variety) shaped out of flower plantings. Further south a tennis court is located just inside the park at the intersection of Duboce and Buena Vista East streets.

Other points of interest

Across the street from the south side of the park is 355 Buena Vista East, an architecturally notable building which appears briefly in

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

's ''

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...

''. The building, constructed in 1928 as St. Joseph's Hospital, has been converted to condominiums. The building is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. 611 Buena Vista West, on the west side of the park near Frederick Street, was a particularly noteworthy example of the modern-architecture work of Cass Calder Smith, as featured in many architectural magazines including ''

Dwell Dwell may refer to: * ''Dwell'' (album), a 2020 album by Recondite * ''Dwell'' (magazine), a monthly American publication focused on modern architecture and design * Dwell (retailer), a leading UK furniture and accessories company * "Dwell" (s ...

'' (Jan/Feb 2005). This modern house was significantly modified with an addition of another level in 2015. The

N Judah The N Judah is a hybrid light rail/streetcar line of the Muni Metro system in San Francisco, California. The line is named after Judah Street that it runs along for much of its length, named after railroad engineer Theodore Judah. It links downt ...

runs underneath the park via the

Sunset Tunnel The Sunset Tunnel, originally known as the Duboce Tunnel, is a -long light rail/streetcar tunnel in San Francisco, California. The tunnel runs under the steep hill adjacent to Buena Vista Park and is used exclusively by the N Judah Muni Metro ...

References

External links

Official page
on San Francisco Recreation and Parks web site {{San Francisco Parks in San Francisco Hills of San Francisco Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco Protected areas established in 1867 1867 establishments in California

Layout

Other points of interest

See also

References

External links