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Golden Gate National Recreation Area

This bridge needs neither praise, eulogy nor encomium. It speaks for itself. We who have labored long are grateful. What Nature rent asunder long ago, man has joined today.
— Joseph Strauss
Jewel of San Francisco
Offering views of the mighty Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Recreation Area offers respite to all those seeking refuge from urban life. Pass amongst centuries-old trees, find peace in the blue waters of the Pacific, spy on whales from Muir Beach Overlook, explore all the Bay Area has to offer.
Golden Gate National Recreation Area, with views of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, offers much to its many visitors every year.

Golden Gate NRA 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 park's resources are tremendously varied, ranging from dramatic natural landscapes to cultural and historic landmarks—redwood forests, land protecting endangered species, seaside recreation sites, lighthouses, shipwrecks, former prisons, and more. Golden Gate NRA has been part of the homelands of Coastal Miwok and Ohlone people for thousands of years and still contains archeological sites and landscapes influenced by native land management. Golden Gate NRA contains eleven former Army posts whose military architecture and historic landscapes comprise the heart of the park.

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