For anyone visiting Outside Lands for the first time this year or who hasn’t been to the festival in a few years, we’re providing this guide to transportation options to get in and out of Golden Gate Park without too much hassle.
When you try to get to the same place with 75,000 to 100,000 people on the same day, it can become a serious transportation challenge!
Be warnedanyone who relies on Uber and Lyft for most of their transportation needs around town: Rideshare services are probably the least reliable thing you can rely on this weekend, given the sheer number of people wanting to use them and drivers trying to maximize their fares on a big weekend. For example, you open the app around 1 or 2 p.m. on Friday or around noon on Sunday and think a driver has been found, but the app either keeps spinning looking for drivers or it assigns you one and they cancel because they found a better fare. You can waste quite a bit of time doing this.
And who knows how Waymos will fit into the mix here. This is Outside Lands’ first year with Waymo operational throughout the city and virtually anyone being able to hail one, and the robot taxis might find the chaos at 25th and Fulton very confusing. Will the cars also be trained to know that there are only two designated pick-up and drop-off areas on either side of the park?! We’ll see!!
So unless you bought one of those $45 weekend shuttle cards, you’ll have to rely on Muni buses, regular taxis, bikes, scooters, or your own two feet.
The N-Judah
This is a pretty good way to get in and out of the park all weekend long, but be aware that if you need to go to the box office there, you’ll be on the wrong side of the park. The box office is near Marx Meadow, near 25th Avenue and Fulton Street, and the VIP Will Call is near the VIP entrance on 36th Avenue.
To get into the park, take the N train to 34th Avenue and enter through the South Gate entrance. Then enter the park on Lincoln Way near 34th and follow the signs to the entrance gates. This is probably the worst place to get in on Friday as it is smaller and the line to enter and baggage check is the longest.
As you leave, walk back to Judah and 34th Avenue, or better yet, walk further west, toward the ocean, and catch a train before it reaches one of the stops where most people congregate. These trains fill up, and you may not get on otherwise and have to wait for the next one.
And be warned: when the festival is over and you wait until the very end, these trains may go into meltdown mode.
The 5-Fulton, 5R-Fulton and 5X
To get to the festival, take the 5 bus from anywhere downtown or from the Civic Center to Fulton and 30th Avenue (wait for VIPs at 36th Avenue). The 5R also works and makes fewer stops along the way.
These buses are very crowded, especially during peak arrival times in the early afternoon, and do not always have reliable spacing between them. It is better to take them as far into the city center as possible.
If you get off at night, take the Muni buses back to the Civic Center on 30th Avenue, where they will be lined up. They will be full.
After 9pm, you might be stuck on a 5X that doesn’t make any stops and only takes people to the Civic Center.
Taxi stands
There are three designated taxi stands that may be more convenient than calling a Lyft or Uber. These are located (see yellow on the map below) on the south side of Fulton Street between 28th and 29th Avenues; on the south side of Fulton Street between 24th and 25th Avenues; on the north side of Fulton Street between 33rd and 34th Avenues; and on the Sunset side, in the rideshare zone on Irving Street between 26th and 27th Avenues.
Uber/Lyft
Rideshare drop-off and pick-up zones are located on the north side of Irving between 25th and 27th Avenues and across the park on the north side of Balboa between 30th and 31st Avenues and on the west side of 30th Avenue between Balboa and Anza.
Stay safe everyone out there!
Photo: Peppe Ragusa
