Golden Gate National Recreation Area

Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) chronicles two hundred years of history, from the Native American culture, the Spanish Empire frontier and the Mexican Republic, to maritime history, the California Gold Rush, the evolution of American coastal fortifications, and the growth of urban San Francisco.

The Golden Gate National Recreation Area was established in 1972 as a new urban park. A timely merging of political, economic, social and environmental forces, occurring in both the Bay Area and the country, paved the way for the creation of the park. The park’s very existence illustrates the power of the environmental conservation movement in the 1960s and 1970s.