Glen Canyon Park

Unfinished History

Glenpark$glen-canyon-park.jpg

Glen Canyon Park

Photo: Chris Carlsson

Glen-Canyon-1905 Burnham.jpg

Glen Canyon, 1905, looking south.

Photo: Burnham Plan

Glen Canyon - Islais Creek looking south 1903 opensfhistory wnp14.0999.jpg

Glen Canyon looking south down Islais Creek, 1903.

Photo: OpenSFHistory.org wnp14.0999

1915--Photograph with drawing of proposed San Miguel Reservoir Dam, copied from a magazine wnp4.1251.jpg

Photograph of bottom of Glen Canyon with proposed San Miguel Reservoir Dam, c. 1915.

Photo: courtesy Western Neighborhoods Project, OpenSFHistory.org

OShaughnessy-and-Glen-Canyon-at-right-c-1930s.jpg

O'Shaughnessy Blvd. with Glen Canyon at right, 1930s.

Photo: C. R. collection

OShaughnessy nr Del Vale Nov 26, 1934 wnp27.5512.jpg

Shaping the future roadway: grading O'Shaughnessy Blvd. near Del Vale, Nov. 26, 1934.

Photo: courtesy OpenSFHistory.org wnp27.5512

Glen Canyon southerly view 1942 wnp26.103.jpg

Glen Canyon, southerly view, 1942.

Photo: courtesy Western Neighborhoods Project, OpenSFHistory.org

Glen-canyon-wooded-overview7156.jpg

Photo: Chris Carlsson

Across the street from 38 Sussex Street in Glen Park is the beginning of Ohlone Way. Named after the Indian tribe that lived in the Bay Area before the Europeans arrived, it looks more like an Indian trail than a city street. The rutted dirt tracks are completely surrounded by trees and underbrush, leading the imaginative walker to imagine him or herself transported back in time ... to an Ohlone settlement?

Just a few blocks west, Sussex Street dead-ends at Glen Canyon Park. You can walk down into the park, which is one of San Francisco's least known and most secluded urban wildernesses. Glen Canyon Park is gorgeously unspoiled.

--Dr. Weirde

Glen canyon north view.jpg

Glen Canyon looking northward. O'Shaughnessy Blvd. at left, Sutro Tower and Twin Peaks at top of photo. At the top of the canyon, Islais Creek begins its journey to the bay, one of two remaining open creeks in San Francisco.

Photo: Chris Carlsson

Glen Canyon 1961 Diamond Heights development underway wnp27.2880.jpg

Glen Canyon below the Diamond Heights landscaping and leveling underway in 1961.

Photo: courtesy Western Neighborhoods Project, OpenSFHistory.org

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