<Tr> <Th> NRHP reference #</Th> <Td> 04001137 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Added to NRHP </Th> <Td> October 15, 2004 </Td> </Tr> <P> Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, United States, is a large urban park consisting of 1,017 acres (412 ha) of public grounds . It is administered by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department, which began in 1871 to oversee the development of Golden Gate Park . Configured as a rectangle, it is similar in shape but 20 percent larger than Central Park in New York, to which it is often compared . It is over three miles (4.8 km) long east to west, and about half a mile (0.8 km) north to south . With 13 million visitors annually, Golden Gate is the fifth most - visited city park in the United States after Central Park in New York City, Lincoln Park in Chicago, and Balboa and Mission Bay Parks in San Diego . </P> <P> In the 1860s, San Franciscans began to feel the need for a spacious public park similar to Central Park, which was then taking shape in New York City . Golden Gate Park was carved out of unpromising sand and shore dunes that were known as the Outside Lands, in an unincorporated area west of San Francisco's then - current borders . Conceived ostensibly for recreation, the underlying purpose of the park was housing development and the westward expansion of the city . The tireless field engineer William Hammond Hall prepared a survey and topographic map of the park site in 1870 and became its commissioner in 1871 . He was later named California's first state engineer and developed an integrated flood control system for the Sacramento Valley . The park drew its name from nearby Golden Gate Strait . </P>

How much bigger is golden gate park than central park