Allyne Park is a hidden Oasis in the hustle and bustle of Cow Hollow. A block off Union Street but…read moreworld's away, Allyne Park is the perfect spot to let your pooch run free. In addition to the larger grassy area there is also a great landscaped area with benches, flowers and huge trees. On sunny days the park is teeming with dogs, sunbathers and couples canoodling in the grass (I love a good canoodle) Pop in to Blue Fog Market across the street for some Blue Bottle and some snacks, grab your blanket and enjoy one of San Francisco's hidden treasures!

Well, this place is so small (.735 acres) its not even shown on most maps (or listed on Yelp -…read moreuntil now)...which is sort of its charm. If you're in Cow Hollow and need a place to mellow out from all the yuppie boutique nonsense on Union St., this spot is the place to go. Tucked away behind some trees, it's not super-obvious from Gough. But inside is a nice, small lawn and a little garden-type sitch with some flowers and other shubbery. Benches to sit on as well. Check out the Octagon house on next door on Gough. Wow - trippy... Besides the size, the drawbacks are that the tall trees block most sun and its a meeting point for everyone in the neighborhood who owns those little yapping terrier dogs. (Again, it's not that I dislike dogs perse...I just don't like yours).

This slightly scrubby mini park across from the Northern police station was one of the sites of the…read more4th annual Christmas tree giveaway sponsored by the SF Housing Authority and The Guardsman. This sponsored event hosted several giveaways over the past two weeks, donating beautiful Christmas trees to city residents for free. Some neighbors tagged three or four trees to take to family members and there was still plenty of inventory to go around: Big, small, bunchy, several varieties including Blue Spruce, Fraser Fir and Douglas Fir. You just had to stand next to your chosen tree and it was yours. A big cheer erupted when our charismatic mayor, London Breed, arrived. She grew up here in the Western Addition and it felt especially sweet to see her here basking in re-election glow. I was ready to walk away if there weren't enough trees to satisfy the neighborhood. While I've had some heavy bills, I had "Plan B" to buy a small tree at a lot I spied by Lake Merced. I could never take from someone needy. More than a free tree- which I stuffed in my subcompact car with the stubbornness of my Irish heritage- I enjoyed the neighborliness of hanging out and talking with mothers and grandmothers as we pointed out other, great-looking Christmas trees to late arrivals they hadn't yet had time to scope out. Kids ran around, lined up for face-painting while small tots tumbled around a compact bounce house. As I struggled hauling my tree to my car parked a block away, I quietly laughed as I spotted one woman who was determined to board the 22 Fillmore bus with this 7' Christmas tree. Only in San Francisco.

SF Parks and Rec Description:…read more "Look for the 'rainbow'-brightly painted bricks provide a backdrop to this inviting green plaza in the Fillmore District. Enjoy lunch al fresco at one of the picnic tables, surrounded by ornate shrubs and flowers." I like the fact that this is a focal point of the neighborhood for a lot of people. The folks who frequent the park seem to know each other, and seem to have a great time visiting and laughing. And, as the description said, if you're heading for a walk over to The Fillmore at lunch, it's actually ideally located for a little al fresco lunch. I've seen no real drama here, and I've met some interesting people. The rub: For a park this small (about the size of one lot), the day-drinking is a little too obvious. There is also very little balance between it being a spot to sit and chill vs. being a park where you might go if you were a kid. It's kind of an adult park. Is it awful and seedy? No. Not to mention, the Northern District Police Station is right across the street. And, let's face it, I don't read a lot of reviews about how awful Delores Park is because it's filled with hipster day-drinkers. But, I just can't help but feel that the place could be improved upon, especially as this stretch of Fillmore develops into more.

Golden Gate Park has tons of these meadows good for a festival. Hellman Hollow is just one. It has…read morea pretty good location in the middle of the park. A lot of open area. There's always crowd but it doesn't seem to get too crowded though. Always seems to be something going on here. It's got like 12 acres of open space. There's often concerts and those kinds of things. Other times people are out here playing with their dogs. This is also considered a picnic area, and it's a nice place to have one. Convenient location to get to from. It's located pretty close to the Polo Field and some other things in the park. This is a good place to have a party or just chill and whatever.

The cherry blossom trees at Hellman Hollows are starting to bloom. When the wind blows, the pedals…read morefall like snow.

Oh my God it's like we had our own little private park it's really huge out nowhere in the middle…read moreof Golden Gate Park. The sun was out we had shade few people had their little doggies there was a cute little baby was a great birthday party, I had so much fun few people walk through even though they didn't know there was a private party going on only draw back Ain't no bathrooms!! So that could be a little hard thank God I don't really drink so that was an issue for me until we left. lol I'm sure there's a lot of cute little hidden gems in the park where you could have your private party, but check this one out pretty cool and it's big enough where they were playing dodgeball which was some kind of drinking game they made up it was pretty funny they had great time.

My friends and I had an impromptu picnic at Doughboy Meadow on a warm and sunny afternoon. I am…read morelooking forward to going back again with my 2 year old. Parking was easy to find and Stow Lake is a short walk from the meadow. No ants or bug bites... Just gophers

If you've ever taken part in a One Brick gardening project the chances are fairly high that you…read morealready know about or have worked on the maintenance of Rhododendron Island in Golden Gate Park. If you've driven past Spreckels Lake, run along the western end of John F. Kennedy Drive or have completed the entire San Francisco Bay to Breakers course you've probably seen Rhododendron Island without knowing it. Rhododendron Island sits on John F. Kennedy Drive and 36th Avenue sandwiched in between Spreckels Lake and the Golden Gate Park Equestrian Center. As the history of this patch of land goes it had always been a garden filled with a wide array of rhododendron varieties until City budget issues and neglect turned it into a forest of non-native plants, overgrown weeds and litter. Enter volunteer organization One Brick in the summer of 2003 whose volunteers assembled on site on a regular basis to clean up the patch of land, remove the plants that didn't belong and re-introduce different varieties of rhododendrons and azaleas. It took the volunteer group an entire year, but in the summer of 2004 they completed their project transforming this patch of land back to a garden filled with rhododendrons, azaleas and different tree species. Today, Rhodendron Island is one of the signature events for One Brick. There is a project nearly every month, rain or shine, where volunteers come out to help maintain the gardens, pull out new weeds, lay down weed cover, spread mulch, trim or remove unwanted plants. In my five years of volunteering through One Brick I have probably worked on the island over a dozen times and I've done all of the things listed at one time or another, but I did something two weekends ago that I had never done here before. It was a Saturday and rain was forecasted for that morning. About fifteen or so hearty volunteers including myself turned out. The skies were overcast but dry when we gathered. We noticed the drops of water slowly come down plopping onto the surface of Spreckels Lake across the street. The San Francisco Rec and Parks Department gardener told us he wanted us to prepare the land and help him plant some azaleas into the garden. In less than two hours under a steady rain our group of muddy, wet volunteers dug out weeds and unwanted grass patches and replaced them with 90 azalea plants of different varieties and different sizes. Ninety!! In the words of the gardener himself we were a planting machine, and had he not run out of plants we would have kept going as we were all quite enthusiastic about adding new life to the garden. Rhododendron Island is best to visit in late March or early April when many of the plants begin to flower. For me anyway it'll be interesting to see how many of our 90 plants survived. I've posted some photos taken in April, 2009.

Look - You probably won't do much more than drive past this spot. I would hesitate to write a full…read morereview, but the one other review is posted by a cool Yelper with a ton of Street Cred as the SYOY game goes. This little patch across from Speckles Lake used to be overgrown. Thanks to the work of volunteers, there are plantings and it can be a little secluded picnic area. Restrooms right across the street on the west end of the lake. The flowers bloom occasionally. Sometimes it's fairly mundane. My one recommendation is that during the wet times of the year the lower areas get pretty swampy. But that is common in a lot of spots around GGP and Lands End. Thanks to Wilhelm for the original review. SYOY Player!

I've been coming here on and off for 15+ years. I work nearby and it's a great place to just sit…read moreand relax to get a break from the office. It's a gem in FiDi to have this open space. I don't think I've ever heard people come here to talk. People come here for the solitude, reading, eating or just sitting. Thank you to the owners of 505 Montgomery St for donating this open space. This is a welcome escape from the concrete jungle surrounding it.

-a brief respite from the hustle-bustle of downtown. Visitors may include: homeless folk sleeping…read morein relative safety, office workers on a smoke/lunch break, people reading the newspaper, and loud talkers on cell phones. That said, this wee park is still a nice place to sit, relax and take a load off. A mix of benches and fixed table/chair set-ups.

The first time I came to San Francisco I was awestruck. There are so many beautiful things that…read moreare so different from Midwest and Mountain West where I spent my earlier years. One of the things that really stood out were the amazing trees. They seemed so tall and it was almost like venturing into a pre-historic world. But, the Bay Area is known for trees, right? I mean, Redwoods. I'm pretty sure the West Coast Ivy down the road even uses a tree as a mascot. What may surprise you is that the giant trees in San Francisco are largely an artificial addition. As it turns out, San Francisco is largely a sandy windswept environment when left to its own natural devices. The Arguello Stand is a planting down by the US Army back in the last few decades of the 19th Century. This particular grove of Monterrey Cypress was planted at the top of the ridge above Inspiration Point. At the time, this was the largest landscaping project ever attempted by the Army. The results are stunning. The Arguello Stand towers between the Presidio Golf Course and the Bay Area Ridge Trail. These trees are packed in tight, and currently an effort is being made to thin the area for the longer-term health of the forest. One of the cool side effects is the nearby piece of public art, Spire. Make sure to check it out. As you enter the Presidio through the Arguello Gate, this is one of the first things you'll come across. I personally enjoy it every time I pass by on the trail.

The middle lake has since gotten an upgrade and now is filled with water next to a stream with a…read moresmall waterfall (though the last time I was there that part was dry). It's more lush compared to the dry patch of dirt it was before and worth checking out. Out of the 3 I like North Lake the best as it feels the most rustic and natural whereas the other two feel man made. It's a great place for a birder. Birds are everywhere. North Lake has monthly cleanups through Golden Gate Bird Alliance where you basically garden and get rid of non native plants.

Just returned home after my walk at Chain of Lakes (adjacent to Fulton). The pictures that I am…read moreadding relate to the little bridge that crosses over what USED TO BE an absolutely charming pond that featured a cool variety of ducks and raccoons romping in the water, This area has be totally neglected and it is basically more. Overgrown brush, tree branches cover the area and the pond is nothing but thick green scum. see pics. Ok, maybe the green scum can't be dealt with but the hideous overgrowth can! For this part of the park, I give it 2 stars. The rest of the park is of course a 5 rating. It would be nice if the Park and Rec would RE-PAINT the narrow path or put up at least 2 signs to indicate NO bikes or SCOOTERS. One trash can for this size park area is also ridiculous given that 95% of the time it is locked up! and dog waste bags scattered around the can not in it. C'mon..