The parking lot where Sunset Boulevard hits Lake Merced Boulevard was large. Although bordered by trees, the lot had no interior trees for shade.

A path runs four miles all the way around the lake. That path was littered with exercise areas such as this one. The path is mostly flat, so it is a good place to exercise for young children and the less physically able. The path also passes near the San Francisco Zoo. .

A statue of Capitan Juan Bautista De Anza was where the path started in the corner of the parking lot. The statue was donated by the Mexican state of Sonora in 1967.

There are statues all over the world of soldiers and explorers mounted gallantly atop a fine horse. But how often is that horse mentioned on the plaque below? In the instance of this statue, the horse remained anonymous.

The most scenic parking spot of all was reserved for the disabled. Part of one of the three lakes with one name (Lake Merced) was visible just beyond.

Clean, well maintained benches were located in shady spots around the lake. Each such resting place had a fine view of the lake below.

A path across the narrow part of the lake led to the Harding Park Golf Course . Although the path led into the golf course, it became a road on the other side. It is better to circumnavigate the lake than to take this tempting shortcut.

A sign explained why it was important to say on the path. The sign read in part:

San Francisco public utilities Commission
Creating an Obstacle Course for Water
Soil and Vegetation Working Together to Protect Lake Merced

The Problem: Polluted Urban Runoff

The Solution: Retrofitting the urban Environment

These planting areas are capturing runoff!
Please use the paths and bridges and
do not disturb the vegetation

A Red-shouldered Hawk was seen perched atop a high voltage power pole. This was just one of the many stunning birds seen that day at the lake.

The bridge across the narrow gap where the lake pinched together. The gate was there to prevent pedestrian access to the Golf Course when the Golf course was closed.

The plastic covering the fence was put there to inhibit the spread of invasive species of plants.

The devil is in the details. Although the overall park, path and lake appeared well maintained, a closeup view would often reveal trash and litter near the edges.

The lake was large enough for dragon boats to rehearse. On this day there were two practice dragon boats circling the lake. Rehearsal was for the the International Dragon Boat Festival in San Francisco.

Young kids were paddling this dragon boat around Lake Merced. The dragon boat races take place in September each year on Treasure Island.

A good time to visit Lake Merced is in the early spring on a day that is not raining. You will find many flowers in bloom along the paths and in Harding Park in the middle of the lake.

Fishing is permitted in the lake with a fishing license. Fishing docks appeared here and there around the lake. Access to these fishing docks were not indicated with signs, nor were there paved paths to access them.

A huge, triangular shaped golf course lay in the middle of Lake Merced.

Lake Merced is a good area for bird watching. Here was a black phoebe caught perched atop a fence.

The path to a fishing dock was unmarked and not easily found. Here a dirt path led off to the left and wound under that tree.

The path to a fishing dock was partly paved with a small wooden bridge over a minor creek.

The view from the fishing dock was of Harding Park across the lake and of ducks in fallen trees nearby.

The path continued from the fishing dock along the edge of the lake. It was paved with wood chips and appeared intentional.

A fallen tree blocked the path that led from the fishing dock. If you walked that far, you would have to backtrack to find another trail up and out.

Most of the path around the lake borders neighborhoods. This section was on Lake Merced Boulevard between Sunset Boulevard and Skyline Boulevard. This one section of Lake Merced Boulevard was quiet and residential.

The neighborhood that bordered the lake had that typical Sunset District look. Two-story, residence-over-garage style homes.

The path continued along Skyline Boulevard. A number 18 bus stop was at the intersection of Skyline Boulevard and Lake Merced Boulevard. The path was wide and picturesque, but noisy with a busy flow of many cars.

The trees of Lake Merced along Skyline Boulevard were individually numbered with small metal tags. There was no indication anywhere around the lake that described who numbered these trees nor why. Each tree had a different number and the numbers increased as we neared Harding Park.

A hummingbird perched on a branch and appeared to be looking over the lake beyond.

For those of you who enjoy bugs and have keen eyesight, many insects and spiders could be found inhabiting this lake.

A double-crested cormorant was seen flying into the lake, finding nesting materials and then flying out again with them dangling from its mouth.

Here the lake could be seen in its wide splendor. We were looking east toward the narrows with the bridge in the distance. The Harding Park Golf Course is on the distant right. Harding Park is just visible with a dock jutting into the water on the far right.

Harding Park lay along either side of a road through the lake meant to access the Harding Park Golf Course.

The path around the lake was not only a good place to walk and exercise, it was also a pleasant place to bicycle.

The view of the lake as seen from inside the Harding Park Golf Course. Although it is much more scenic from inside the golf course, the way through the golf course was not at all pedestrian friendly.

The path down to the bridge from the Golf Course side. Note that the wide path in front continued from the electric cart path that pedestrians were not supposed to walk. The winding narrow path to the left was meant for pedestrians.