Marvel as you munch at the Presidio Tunnel Tops — spectacular views surround you
Everywhere you turn at the huge garden estate in Woodside, there is something beautiful to admire
Ifyou took that old Joni Mitchell lyric — “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot” — and turned it on its head, you’d get San Francisco’s stunning new green space. An ugly freeway used to cut through the Presidio, a former military and now national park site, blocking views of the Bay and Golden Gate bridges. But the road’s been banished to underground tunnels, and as of 2022, the top now serves as a public park with lovely lawns, a cliff walk and a botanic garden with 200,000 plants.
The “starchitect” behind the Tunnel Tops is James Corner of Field Operations, which also designed the innovative High Line in New York. At its fundamental level, Presidio Tunnel Tops is a giant amphitheater for admiring nature’s glory reflected in the Golden Gate — the verdant hills of Marin, the ghostly fog rolling in, birds diving and whales breaching. Broken down into geographic bits, it’s a recreational wonderland that could take a day to soak in, with forms of entertainment you’ve probably never imagined possible.
For the kiddos, there’s a play zone made from huge trees, which have naturally fallen over in the surrounding hills. One has a cavernous interior to shimmy through, while another mimics the structure of local birds’ nests and is great for climbing. A science museum provides the opportunity to literally taste the Presidio, with water infused with native herbs like minty yerba buena. There, you can also pet the first coyote radio-tagged in the park (it won’t bite, it’s taxidermied).
Wander in any direction, and you might find something surprising, like a campfire circle sheltered with boulders against the marine breeze; on weekends, rangers lead talks about the Presidio’s history here. There are vibrant outdoor murals and, if you wander over to the park’s edge, views of traffic zooming under your feet — a reminder that as cities get denser, we’ll need to be this creative about carving out beautiful new park spaces.
You could pack a lunch to enjoy in one of the meadows or reserve a spot at the park’s Picnic Place with barbecue grills and incredible bay views. But there’s also a resident food-truck park with everything from empanadas to borscht, Indian snacks, beer and cocktails. Check the park’s website to see who’s serving that particular week.
Outdoor adventures abound in the Bay Area, where 10,000 miles of trails wander across more than 300 mountains, 19 state parks, eight national park units — and one very civilized, almost-Gilded Age garden. Filoli, Woodside’s historic estate has long been a holiday lights destination. But the grounds are simply spectacular, with 16 acres of formal gardens, 250 fruit trees, a vegetable garden and a daffodil meadow planted with more than 75,000 spring bulbs. Getting your steps in has never been so lovely.
As the director of horticulture, responsible for all the growing things at Filoli, Jim Salyards knows those grounds intimately, but one spot among the thousands whispers to him, no matter the season.
Near the estate swimming pool stands a Camperdown elm planted decades ago. In the winter, the bare limbs are blanketed with moss, and the hundreds of branches make it appear as if the tree is wearing a fascinator of clouds. In the spring, the tree leafs out in brilliant greens with long, dangling chartreuse seed pods that dance in the breeze. As the days move into summer, the tree offers a welcoming, embracing umbrella of shade; sitting beneath it, time seems to still.
In a landscape that provides so much beauty, it’s easy to be overtaken by the glory spread out before you, but Filoli is a place to take your time, do some
exploring and look for the details that make the difference.
Filoli was built in 1917 in the style of a Georgian mansion. Owners William and Agnes Bourn had intended it to be their country retreat, but grandeur won out as the home rose from its foundations to include 56 rooms covering more than 54,000 square feet.
After their deaths, the 654-acre estate was sold to William and Lurline Roth, who continued to expand the gardens. Lurline was a particular fan of camellias — she was crazy for camellias, Salyards says — and a large variety of the shrubs can be found throughout the formal gardens.
The Roths, Salyards says, wanted the estate to be a place of horticulture significance, where people could visit and learn about the astounding aspects of nature. Before her death, Lurline ensured that would happen, refusing to sell the estate and instead agreeing to put it in the hands of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Filoli has been open for public