It's a spot in Golden Gate Park with a picturesque name...
and in the middle of a small lake in Golden Gate Park.
Strawberry Hill, named after the once abundant wild strawberries that used cover the hill one hundred years ago, is located in the middle of Stow Lake. At the top of the hill are panoramic views of San Francisco, but most of it is obscured by tall trees. I guess this is when having a drone would help.
We were able to find parking near one of the entrances. It was so nice and peaceful here. We saw a group of men with long lens cameras starting intently at a tree. It turns out they were bird watchers and there was a baby owl in a nest high up in a tree.
Huntington Falls, a manmade waterfall, is on the east side of the hill. We saw folks enjoying the paddleboats in the serenity of Stow Lake, which is like the moat that surrounds Strawberry Hill.
TC took this photo of me and Bert (we're too far away). Down where she was were stepping stones.
Now this is me and TC, from Bert's POV.
The hills were lush, covered with so many beautiful trees (even Palm trees), shrubs and flowers such as these white calla lilies.
It was fun exploring...every hill and staircase that we ascended held more surprises.
Another staircase was flanked by these beautiful Clivias or bush lilies, a flower native to South Africa.
The eastern base of the hill also has the Chinese peace pavilion. We didn't explore this too much since people were inside it already. We'll have to do a revisit in the near future. It's such a pretty structure and has great views of the lake and park.
Almost at the top of the hill.
Views of the Inner Sunset facing the south. If it weren't for this tree...ha ha.
More paths...
View of the Richmond District in the foreground and the city to the east.
You can even see a bit of the Golden Gate Bridge and Marin County across the Bay.
As you can see, it pretty lush and green. It wasn't too tiring going up and down the hill. By the time we left, more folks were out and about here. The men watching the baby owl were still there as we made our descent down the hill.
We made our way out from the southern corner of the park and back to the Inner Sunset once more.
The candy colored homes have a fascinating hold on me and makes me wonder what it's like to live in one of these historic homes.
While searching for videos about Strawerry Hill to post, I saw this one about the owl!
Although the footage wasn't taken during the day of our visit (it was a few weeks later), I wonder if this is the same baby owl? Oops, looks like there are TWO baby owls! Wow.
[Update - Bert said this was the same tree. This video was taken at the top of the hill. We saw the group of birdwatchers on the slope of the hill. Like the videographer, many of them had serious cameras with super long telephoto lenses.]
Strawberry Hill
50 Stow Lake
San Francisco, CA 94159
goldengatepark.com/strawberry-hill + reviews from tripadvisor and you know where
Our next stop would be the Home of the Gators...
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