Bring your friends and family to visit the Lower Presidio Historic Park, located up the hill off of Pacific Street near Downtown Monterey. The Old Monterey Foundation and the City of Monterey recently added several new picnic tables, including one that is ADA accessible, at the Lower Presidio Historic Park. There are now a total of eight convenient picnic tables and five benches on site at this beautiful park.
In 2017, Old Monterey Foundation raised funds to install a monument sign on Pacific Street to make it even easier to find the park. Old Monterey Foundation also installed eight new interpretive signs, a white wooden perimeter fence, and two new ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible pathways of the Harbor Trail which extends to the Serra Monument and the Vista Trail that goes up the hill to the Sloat Monument.
The 25.3-acre Lower Presidio Historic Park also features a gorgeous view of the Monterey Bay and Old Fisherman’s Wharf. When you visit the park, please leave it as clean and pristine as you found it. Be sure to pack up and take all of your trash.
Also, check out the informative Old Monterey Foundation’s Lower Presidio Historic Park Walking Tours every third Saturday of the month from 10:00 am – Noon with respected local Historian Tim Thomas. The next tour will be held on Saturday, July 21st.
Old Monterey Foundation invites everyone to become a Friend of the Lower Presidio and make a tax-deductible donation to more quickly restore the park.
The City of Monterey Outreach Office has produced an informative short video about the Lower Presidio Historic Park and its significance to California and American history.
agreed to become a major sponsor of the Lower Presidio Historic Park with a significant grant to fund the construction and installation of the custom signs on site.
and received an enthusiastic response. The presentation was followed by a tour of the Park so that the members could see firsthand the beauty and potential of the Park to become the jewel of the Monterey Park system. 
After threatened rain, the afternoon turned out to be sunny and dry, and a good time was had by all with wine provided by the Club.
Old Monterey Foundation is now also seeking funds to restore the Father Serra statue that was recently vandalized.
For 16 years, he was historian and curator for the Monterey Maritime & History Museum and has worked with the Monterey Bay Aquarium, California State Parks and the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. He is author of “The Abalone King of Monterey: ‘Pop’ Ernest Doelter,” “The Japanese on the Monterey Peninsula” and co-author of “Monterey’s Waterfront.” Tim also conducts monthly “Wharf Walks” on Monterey’s Old Fisherman’s Wharf and offers Cannery Row walking tours, as well.
Situated in a “hidden in plain sight” location, the park features spectacular views of the Monterey Bay and Harbor and will become a jewel of the City of Monterey’s park system.
s is a five-year commitment to raise the necessary funds and direct the construction of agreed improvements that will make Lower Presidio Historic Park a centerpiece of historic Old Monterey. What is largely an unknown public facility will be turned into what looks and feels like a park (Phase I) that welcomes the public, local and visitor alike. Pathways, interpretative signs, benches and tables, and an entrance that is easily located for even the most casual visitor. Later Phases will renovate some historic buildings located on site and develop interpretation of El Castillo and Fort Mervine. An amphitheater will be installed for concerts overlooking the Bay. This 25.3 acre site will become the jewel of Monterey, worthy of its description as the Most Historically Significant Site on the West Coast.
Old Monterey Foundation 