Natural Areas Locator

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Natural Areas

Bernal Hill

Location: End of Bernal Heights Boulevard
Established: 1973
Size: Park: 24.3 acres/Natural Area: 24.3 acres
Park Type: Grassland

Bernal Hill provides visitors with a breathtaking 360-degree panorama and clear views of San Francisco Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge, downtown, San Bruno Mountain and the hills of the East Bay. These windswept slopes are still sunny when Twin Peaks is shrouded in afternoon fog. Red-tailed hawks majestically soar overhead, the breeze sends undulating waves through the native grassland community, and visitors hike around the hill's peaceful summit to escape from the complexities of urban life. As one of the few remaining natural refuges in San Francisco, Bernal Hill is a special place for the city's human and wildlife inhabitants.

Cultural History

Bernal Hill was originally part of a 4,446-acre land grant awarded to José Cornelio de Bernal, a soldier in Juan Bautista de Anza's 1776 expedition. The grant extended south from current-day Cesar Chavez Street to Daly City. The Bernal region became a squatter's paradise over the next several decades, until the Van Ness Ordinance of 1855 decreed that these illegitimate tenants were in fact bona fide landowners and citizens of the city.

In the mid-1800s, as San Francisco began to outgrow the capacity of the downtown district, the Bernal Heights neighborhood emerged. The streets were laid out and many small- to moderate-sized homes were built. A tight-knit community, including many Irish, Scots and Scandinavians, took up residence in the shadow of the hill, which residents used extensively for cattle and dairy ranching.

One of the most dramatic tales of Bernal Hill took place in May of 1876. The Bernal Heights community caught the California gold rush fever after Frenchman Victor Resayre announced his discovery of gold on the Bernal summit, ore that he claimed would fetch $1 million per ton. For several days the hill was the site of extensive mining efforts, until it was revealed that the original discovery consisted of the considerably less valuable quartz.

During the 1906 earthquake, homeowners in Bernal Heights were some of the luckiest in the city because of the hill's stable rock. Few homes were damaged compared to those in other parts of the city that were built on landfill or former sand dunes.

Natural History

Bernal Hill's steep slopes support a thriving grassland community, suggesting how much of the northern San Francisco peninsula might have looked 250 years ago. In the summer and fall its grasslands are dry and parched, and Bernal appears from a distance to be a tawny, uninhabitable monolith. The native grasses and wildflowers have dropped their seeds, which wait patiently in the soil for the winter rains to awaken them. By early February, the hill is transformed into a palette of brilliant colors as a multitude of native wildflowers bloom, including footsteps of spring, clarkia, sun cup, blue-eyed grass, checkerbloom, and shooting star. Native purple needlegrass and red fescue blow in waves from the almost constant ocean breeze.

With a diversity of plant life, an assortment of native animals can survive. More than 40 species of birds are known to use Bernal Hill, including Anna's hummingbirds, dark-eyed juncos, American kestrels, western meadowlarks and Townsend's warblers. These birds forage and hunt in the grasslands in search of a tasty meal of seeds, berries, nectar, or invertebrates. California alligator lizards and Pacific gopher snakes bask in the sunny warmth provided by Bernal's rocky outcrops. Other wildlife, such as Botta's pocket gophers, California slender salamanders, arboreal salamanders and raccoons, call Bernal Hill home. Recently a coyote has been spotted at Bernal Hill. This native mammal, once prevalent in San Francisco, had gone extinct from the city but now may be making its way back.

The American kestrel effortlessly hovers above the steep slopes of the hill, waiting patiently for its next meal to reveal itself among the lupines, fragrant coyote mint and red fescue. Kestrels, like all raptors, are excellent hunters, aided by their specialized hooked beaks, keen eyesight, swift flight and curved talons. Any insects, field mice, or small birds and reptiles on Bernal Hill could fall prey to this falcon.

Habitat Restoration

In 1973, Bernal Heights residents Barbara and Roland Pitschel began organizing volunteer projects on Bernal Hill. Originally the work concentrated on park beautification and trash removal, but gradually the focus turned more to invasive plant removal. In 1980 the group received official authorization from the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department to pursue grassland habitat restoration, the first project of its kind in the city. Today, the Natural Areas Program and the Bernal Hilltop Restoration Project are working together to preserve and restore Bernal Hill's natural history. Through invasive plant removal, revegetation with native species, erosion control and biological monitoring, they hope to re-establish the indigenous, healthy grassland ecosystem of Bernal Hill.

If you are interested in helping to continue transforming Bernal Hill into a thriving natural area, please visit our Opportunites page for information on volunteering.