Candlestick Point State Recreation Area FAQs
Site Improvements
What site improvements are included in Candlestick Point State Recreation Area’s General Plan?
California State Parks is actively planning for site improvements at Candlestick Point State Recreation Area (SRA). Improvements include upgrades to lighting, restrooms, utilities, trails, and parking lots, as well as the creation of new recreational facilities such as a boating center and windsurfing launch ramp.
More information can be found at our General Plan for the park.
Where is Candlestick Point SRA in the Planning and Building Process?
Currently, Parks is in year two of its preliminary planning phase of implementing the General Plan and will move into the working drawings phase next. The State has invested $2.66 million dollars from Prop 68 towards this first phase and has estimated construction of this phase to cost approximately $40 million. Because of the status of the State’s budget, we are not sure when we will be able to advance to the working drawings phase. We will update the public as soon as we have more information.
Are there other site improvements in the works outside of the General Plan implementation?
In addition to the capital outlay projects outlined in prior budget acts, the Department allocated an additional $2 million to Candlestick Point SRA in the spring of 2024 through the California State Parks’ Waterways Connection Initiative. We are working to encumber this money, some of which has been delayed given the state budget deficit. We will inform the community when we have a more accurate timeline to share.
With this money, State Parks will:
- Fix the public restrooms.
- Restore light to the parking lots.
- Replace picnic tables, fire rings, and grills.
- Rehabilitate the second fishing pier.
- Acquire new kayaks and fishing equipment to expand the recreation opportunities.
How will Candlestick Point SRA be affected by the eventual development of the land where the stadium used to be?
State Parks has an agreement with the City of San Francisco’s Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure (OCII) for land transfers and related considerations for the transfers as authorized in SB 792 in 2009. There will be city infrastructure such as outfalls and street lighting on Park property and park boundaries will change.
Given that OCII is the lead in the area’s development, State Parks will cooperate with the City’s schedule so that work is not redone in designing the park boundary area, given that there will be significant grade changes given sea level rise considerations.
Where will funding come to complete the work outlined in the General Plan?
Funding will come from the land transfer considerations, the state budget, and outside fundraising for grants and donations. When the planning process is further developed, we plan to continue work with our partners such as Literacy for Environmental Justice, the State Park Foundation, Parks California, and the community at large on fundraising strategies for specific elements of the new design.
What is California State Parks doing to plan for sea-level rise at Candlestick Point SRA?
It is important to California State Parks that we carefully plan to protect the shoreline of Candlestick Point State Recreation Area from future storms and ensuing sea level rise. To achieve this, we retained Moffatt & Nichol, a global infrastructure advisory firm, to study how various wind and wave projections might affect our park over the next 100 years and to recommend ways we will be best able to mitigate these effects.
As illustrated in Figure 4-1 from the Moffatt & Nichols study, our shoreline varies greatly in terms of how vulnerable it is to wave action. Some areas are relatively sheltered (level 1 in pink), while other areas are more exposed to the elements (level 5 in red).
Because of this, Moffatt & Nichol recommend that we use a mix of strategies to protect the land – from natural solutions such as enhancing the shoreline with salt marsh or beach areas to more engineered solutions such as using riprap or building a sea wall. Maintaining public access to the water is one of the paramount goals for our design.
We will continue to update the public as our preliminary drawings for the implementation of Candlestick’s General Plan take shape.
Yosemite Slough
What is Yosemite Slough?
Yosemite Slough is a water channel located between Hunters Point Naval Shipyard and Candlestick Point State Recreation Area (SRA). It was originally part of a broader watershed in what is now McLaren Park that connected the former Yosemite Marsh and other natural springs with the San Francisco Bay. Historically part of the Bay’s rich tapestry of tidal marshes and mudflats, Yosemite Slough was once a biologically rich ecosystem that supported a variety of wildlife, including many migrating birds.
Is Yosemite Slough polluted?
Between 1940 and 1970, much of the slough was filled in with soils, crushed rock, construction materials and other waste to create more usable land. Before the 1980s, stormwater carried untreated sewage into the slough. Nearby industrial activity also caused a mix of chemicals, including lead and poly-chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), to build up in the slough. The sediment in Yosemite Slough can be harmful to humans and animals, mainly when it is directly ingested or by eating shellfish or fish from the slough. Direct contact with the sediment is mainly an issue for animals that feed or live at the slough. Because of these risks, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning a cleanup of the site. The Yosemite Slough site is considered separate from the adjacent Hunters Point Naval Shipyard Superfund site. Candlestick Point SRA maintains signs around the slough that alert the public to the contaminated sediment in the slough.
What happened with the California State Parks Foundation’s Restoration and Public Access Project?
With the support of generous donors, the California State Parks Foundation invested millions of dollars into restoring the wetlands around Yosemite Slough and improving public access to that area of Candlestick Point SRA. Phase I of this project was completed in 2012. This first phase included demolition of defunct industrial warehouses, other unused buildings, and roads. The land was formed create undulating hills and restore more of the natural shoreline of the Slough. Thousands of native trees, shrubs and perennials were planted with the help of local nonprofit Literacy for Environmental Justice.
Phase 2A began in 2020 and included the construction of core infrastructure to improve public access to the park, including trails, perimeter boundary markers and a parking lot along the park’s north shoreline area near Yosemite Slough. Repeated acts of vandalism, arson, illegal dumping and other unlawful activities have impeded the progress of this restoration work.
What’s going on with Yosemite Slough now?
To protect public safety, California State Parks currently keeps the parking lot closed to the public, although pedestrian access to the northern side of Yosemite Slough is still available. We employ continuous armed security guards who stem illegal activity in the area in collaboration with city agencies, including San Francisco’s police and fire departments, Department of Public Works, and Department of Emergency Management.
California State Parks actively engages with multiple partners in coordination with the U.S. EPA to advance the cleanup for the Yosemite Slough site. Amended in 2023, the cleanup plan calls for digging out the polluted mud in the slough and replacing it with clean material to better protect people and animals. To maintain the previously restored nearby wetland habitat and to avoid recontamination of Yosemite Slough after its future cleanup, the plan must align with the cleanup of the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard Superfund site. As of fall 2024, the EPA estimates cleanup of the Yosemite Slough site will begin in 2027.
Where can I find updates on Yosemite Slough?
Please visit this link for more information on Yosemite Slough from the U.S. EPA.
Former Stadium Site
What’s going on with the former Candlestick Stadium site?
FivePoint, the developer with the rights to build on land where the Candlestick Stadium and surrounding parking lots once sat, plans to create a mixed-use development in the area, with both commercial and residential districts. The Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure (OCII) is the lead government agency who manages this redevelopment. Work on the underground plumbing and electrical infrastructure necessary for this project is planned to commence in late 2025/early 2026 and is projected to take two years. Information about the redevelopment of this site can be found on OCII’s website.
While California State Parks communicates with OCII and FivePoint as we continue to execute our own General Plan, our land is adjacent to the site and our involvement is limited to strategic planning to ensure that continued park access and park infrastructure aligns post-redevelopment.
Last updated 1/14/2024