Tucked away in the southeastern-most end of Balboa Park is a charming reminder in microcosm of what makes Balboa Park such a treasure to the City of San Diego. For just as the Park serves as an urban oasis for the entire city, Golden Hill Park provides an oasis-like respite for this venerable community and its many dog lovers.

After winding your way up 26th Street from Pershing Drive, take a left before reaching A Street to find this green mesa that overlooks Florida Canyon and the municipal golf course on one side and the downtown skyline on the other.

A paved traffic loop surrounds a wide expanse of green grass, which is dotted with palm, Moreton Bay fig, and other tree varieties. Outside the “loop” are several picnic tables and hiking trails that allow you to explore the park’s many botanical wonders, including the Coast Oak Grove at the northern tip.

Easily overlooked at the south end are remnants of an historic Arts & Crafts–style stone fountain grotto that dates to this park’s beginnings. The entire site was designed in 1907 by Henry Lord Gay (who also designed downtown’s Western Metal Supply Building), making Golden Hill Park one of the first developed areas of Balboa Park.

Golden Hill Park is not only the perfect spot for family picnics and pick-up soccer games, but this neat little park within a park gives joggers, bicyclists, and, of course, dog walkers a shady natural refuge to “get away from it all.”