A Wheelchair User's Guide to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco

I’ve loved the park since I’ve lived here, and while it has multiple wheelchair-friendly attractions, I had to get creative to enjoy the park’s outdoors with my declining mobility.

I’ve tried and tested multiple routes for grade, terrain and width—all important for wheelchairs or adaptive cycles. One of my favorite routes, which I do with an adaptive bike but can be done in a wheelchair, is JFK Promenade, sprinkling in a bit of creative “off-roading” (diverting from smooth to rough concrete) to see less-visited areas of the park.

Biking or rolling the drive is a peaceful, meditative, and uplifting experience any time of day. My personal preference is to go towards the end of the day before sunset, as I love the early evening light of the city. 

JFK Promenade is a uniquely San Francisco experience for outdoor lovers. San Franciscans come out after work or school to enjoy it: bikers play music, people of all ages and all forms of dress roller skate, kids of all sizes play ping pong or hacky sack. People are out in pairs, as families, or solo. Even on a gray day, it's invigorating.

I am a slow biker with limited strength; I can’t go much faster than a fast walker and often need to stop and rest. It doesn’t matter; the drive is for everyone of all abilities. At any given moment, I’m passed by a jogging stroller, dogs and their humans, a running club, unicycle riders dressed like Mandalorians, or—rarely but delightfully—a fellow wheelchair user or adaptive biker.

The ambiance is relaxed and friendly. People smile at each other, as most everyone is in a good mood—and why wouldn’t you be?

My typical itinerary takes me from the disabled parking lot, past the Japanese Tea Garden and the Academy of Sciences into the John McLaren Rhododendron Dell to reach JFK Drive.

I like to veer off the Drive to go into the Peacock Meadow, which is always blooming with seasonal flowers. The accessible path takes me straight to the Dahlia Garden, a true hidden jewel of the park. At wheelchair or recumbent bike height, I have an advantage, as I am at eye-level with the dahlias themselves and can see every intricate whorl, petal and marking. It’s truly an immersive floral experience!

I then go past the Conservatory of Flowers and back down to JFK Drive. My route takes me past the Rose Garden and the turnoff to Blue Heron Lake, where it gets quieter and even greener. At the road to Blue Heron Lake sits a grand piano. Yes, smack in the middle of the park, in the middle of the city, outdoors! On more than one of my rides, I have been fortunate enough to hear pianists play. Hearing this, with the sunset in the background, the redwoods on one side, and the meadow with its forget-me-nots on the other—what a treat it is to live in San Francisco and be able to do this almost every day!