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Golden Gate Park to Charge for Parking Starting January 1, With Rates Up to $4 an Hour
Drivers will pay $1.25 to $4 an hour to park in Golden Gate Park seven days a week starting January 1, as the Recreation and Parks Department grapples with a $15 million budget shortfall. The revenue, projected at $10 million annually, is meant to protect park programs and facilities, but some visitors and officials worry about access.
Golden Gate Park will end its era of free parking on January 1, when hourly fees of $1.25 to $4 take effect every day from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. The Recreation and Park Department is implementing the charges to help close a $15 million annual budget gap, with projected revenue of about $10 million a year earmarked for maintaining park facilities and preserving public programs.
The highest rates will apply east of Crossover Drive, near major attractions including the California Academy of Sciences, the de Young Museum, the San Francisco Botanical Garden, and Blue Heron Lake. In that zone, parking will cost $3.50 an hour on weekdays and $4 on weekends until 6 p.m., then drop to $1.50 and $2, respectively. West of Crossover Drive, drivers will pay $2.75 an hour until 6 p.m. every day, then $1.25. Overnight parking remains prohibited. Drivers with disabled placards are exempt.
Payment will be accepted through the ParkMobile and HotSpot apps or at one of 25 pay stations installed throughout the park.
The Recreation and Park Commission approved paid parking in February 2025, and the Board of Supervisors authorized the SFMTA to set the rates in July 2025. The plan has drawn opposition since its inception. Commissioner Larry Mazzola, who has historically supported drivers, questioned whether the fees would further limit car access, especially after JFK Drive was permanently closed to vehicles in 2022.
âWe already closed roads in Golden Gate Park,â Mazzola said during last yearâs discussions. âAnd now weâre going to charge people. It just seems like weâre driving cars out. Thatâs not something I want to do.â
Department spokesperson Tamara Barak Aparto framed the fees as a way to protect essential services. âWithout additional revenue, we face really difficult decisions about things people really care about, like clean restrooms, well-maintained playgrounds and swimming pools and summer camps,â she said. âThis is a way to really protect the things that people love and rely on.â
Park visitors have expressed mixed feelings. Some told KRON4 they would support the fees if the money went toward improvements and maintenance, while others worried the charges would make the park less accessible. âI think itâs awful. I donât think they should charge for parking at all because people are here to enjoy themselves, and if people have to worry about feeding a meter, I think itâs wrong,â visitor Donna Quan said.
The new fees mark a significant shift for a park that has long been a free destination for residents and tourists alike. As the department balances budget pressures with concerns about equity and access, the coming year will test whether the revenue delivers the promised benefits without shutting out the communities the park serves.