Every Sunday, there’s some sort of free event happening at the Great Highway Park out by Ocean Beach: free yoga, free tai chi and more. This Sunday, the 14th, it’s a free concert from noon to 3pm at Noriega and Great Highway—a recipe for great music just a stone’s throw from the water.
But there’s another great reason to go. This area was once one of San Francisco’s first parks, wild and open… and it could be again. When the Great Highway was built, it provided a scenic drive along the Pacific but cut off pedestrian access to the water. Plus, it turns out it’s really hard to keep a highway next to coastal dunes free of sand. According to the Great Highway Park website, it costs San Francisco $1.7 million a year to move enough sand to keep the roadway open.
During the pandemic, the Great Highway was closed to cars to provide safe recreation space for humans—and the wild popularity of the space proved how much people crave that access. Bikers and skaters could coast down the asphalt, and everyone could walk across to dip their feet in the ocean, play in the sand, surf and watch shorebirds. In 2022, the city supervisors formalized the Great Highway Park concept with a pilot experiment through the December 2025. Park hours for pedestrians are every week from noon on Fridays through Mondays at 6am. How amazing to see a highway become a public park (and the third most popular one in the city)!
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But there’s more to come. What if the park could be permanent? It’s going on the San Francisco ballot this November. If you want to show your public support, you can come out for the events to feel the wind lift your hair, to listen to the meditative rhythm of the breaking waves and to realize what a precious gift ocean access is.
The weekly events are:
1st Sunday: chair yoga, 2pm (Irving & Great Highway)
2nd Sunday: live music, 1-3pm (Judah & Great Highway)
3rd Sunday: tai chi, 10am (Judah & Great Highway)
4th Sunday: mat yoga, noon (Judah & Great Highway)