Wes M.
Yelp
I'd love nothing more than to watch the Seahawks in person when they play in San Francisco every year, but the simple fact is I can't justify the price, not when I've got a perfectly good HDTV to watch them on, and plenty of sports bars for that matter (although I dursn't root for Seattle in an SF bar, do I?). Besides, none of my other friends are that into football. Long story short, I'm not likely to ever see the inside of Monster Park. But that's no reason to leave this corner of the city unexplored, is it?
When I first saw the park service map of Candlestick Point SRA, I thought "wow, how have I overlooked this for so long?". But then again, McLaren Park looked pretty impressive on a map too. You just never know in the Bayview.
So, given my ambivalent expectations, Candlestick Point turned out to be pretty impressive on the whole. In the soft winter light, with a haze over the still waters blocking any view of the east bay, and with the fishermen all staying home because of the oil spill, it was an incredibly peaceful place that feels far removed from the rest of the city, which, geographically, it pretty much is.
The whole place is impressively large, and the park shoreline stretches a long way from the main entrance in both directions, but the obvious highlight is the walk out to Sunrise Point and the fishing pier there, from which you can get a great view of Mt San Bruno and the upper peninsula shoreline. There's a ton of picnic areas, many of which actually looked inviting (although the park service was a little over-zealous with the wind barriers, if you ask me). There's also an insane amount of squirrels running around, and lots of ducks in the cove. All in all, not a bad place for an afternoon stroll, and an excellent addition to any morning bike ride.
I thought I could mosey over to Bayview Park as well (that's the giant hill behind the stadium), but it turns out the only access is from the NW side. Next time I guess.