{"id":434054,"date":"2026-08-15T20:57:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T20:57:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/434054\/"},"modified":"2026-08-15T20:57:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T20:57:20","slug":"this-san-francisco-bus-terminal-hides-a-rooftop-park-with-13-ecosystems-and-free-gondola-rides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/434054\/","title":{"rendered":"This San Francisco bus terminal hides a rooftop park with 13 ecosystems and free gondola rides"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s not often you take an elevator to a park, but then again, there aren’t many parks atop urban transit centers. When the doors opened, I expected to find a concrete pad lined with flower beds and potted plants, perhaps a few benches here and there. Instead, I found a living kingdom of grassy lawns, botanical gardens, and 13 different ecosystems containing over 600 trees and 16,000 plants. It was so unexpected I had to remind myself I was no longer on the ground.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Salesforce Park<\/a> opened in San Francisco<\/a> in 2018, it was immediately hailed as an example of how cities can expand access to green space. But I wasn’t thinking of any of that during my visit. I was too busy enjoying myself as I followed the walking paths around four city blocks of attractions, including dense bamboo forests and whimsical dancing fountains.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here are just a few things you can do at Salesforce Park.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ride the gondola\u00a0\"A<\/p>\n

The park features a free gondola<\/p>\n

(Sundry Photography via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Although I took the elevator, you can also take stairs, an escalator, or a free, clear glass gondola to reach Salesforce Park. The ride takes about a minute, so the views are fleeting, but the novelty is appealing, especially if you’re traveling with kids. The gondola runs from\u00a0 10:00 AM \u2013 7:00 PM March 1- October 31 and 10:00 AM \u2013 6:00 PM November 1- February 28.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Explore the gardens\u00a0\"Lush<\/p>\n

Salesforce Park features 13 different ecosystems<\/p>\n

(Tamara Gane)<\/p>\n

Saleforce Park’s 13 distinct ecosystems include gardens teeming with flora and fauna representing different corners of the world. Within a few minutes, you can walk from a garden of prehistoric plants to a South African garden, an Australian garden, and even a fog garden with coastal plants like pineapple and guava. The diversity would be surprising anywhere, but it’s downright stunning when you’re walking 70 feet above the street.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Watch a dancing fountain\u00a0<\/p>\n

Artist Ned Kahn designed the now iconic “Bus Fountain,”<\/a> a 1,200-foot-long hydraulic artwork with 247 water jets lining a granite pathway. The “dancing” water’s height, movement, and frequency are triggered by buses moving in the terminal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Take a walk\u00a0\"Three<\/p>\n

The perimeter is lined with walking paths<\/p>\n

(Tamara Gane)<\/p>\n

Paved paths trace the perimeter of the 5.4-acre park, forming one of the most unique \u00bd mile walks in San Francisco. Along the way, you pass by gardens, play areas, stages, and green spaces under the watchful eye of the surrounding skyscrapers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Check out Main Plaza\"Three<\/p>\n

The park has a regular calendar of events<\/p>\n

(Tamara Gane)<\/p>\n

The park’s Main Plaza features a walkable glass floor and a serene bamboo grove. It’s an open space for special events. At any given time, you might find live music, literary readings, or children’s activities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Let the kids have a ball\u00a0\"A<\/p>\n

A cart full of games and activities in the play area<\/p>\n

(Tamara Gane)<\/p>\n

Located between the central lawn and the main plaza, a children’s play area features climbing ropes, a lending library, board games, art supplies, and a rotating roster of kid-friendly events, such as storytime.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Live entertainment\u00a0at the amplitheater<\/p>\n

The lawn of Salesforce Park amphitheater is big enough to hold 1,000 people. On any given day or night, it’s used for live music, yoga classes, or movies under the stars.\u00a0<\/p>\n

How to Get to Salesforce Park\"Salesforce<\/p>\n

Salesforce Park is easy to get to<\/p>\n

(Sundry Photography via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Since Salesforce Park is above a bus terminal, it’s easy to get there using public transportation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

BART<\/p>\n

If you’re riding the BART, exit at either the Embarcadero station or Montgomery Street station. They are both located one block north of Salesforce Park.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Muni<\/p>\n

Several Muni bus lines stop directly inside the Salesforce Transit Center. The routes include: 5 Fulton, 5R Fulton Rapid, 7 Haight\/Noriega, 10 Townsend, 12 Folsom\/Pacific, 14 Mission, 14R Mission Rapid, 25 Treasure Island, 38 Geary, and 38R Geary Rapid.<\/p>\n

You can also take all Muni light rail lines to the Embarcadero or Montgomery Street stations, a block north of the park.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It’s not often you take an elevator to a park, but then again, there aren’t many parks atop…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":434055,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[9326,172320,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-434054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-botanical-gardens","tag-salesforce-park","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}