Leo J. Ryan Memorial Park

Leo J. Ryan Memorial Park is Foster City's main public waterfront space, running along the San Francisco Bay shoreline with open views across the bay to the hills of Oakland and Berkeley. The park has a promenade, a marina with boat launches, a model yacht pond, and wide grassed areas for picnics and sports. On clear days the views extend to the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge.

The park is particularly good at dusk, when the bay turns gold and the bridge lights come on. Bird life on the mudflats and wetland areas is varied — egrets, herons, and shorebirds are common. The promenade connects to a network of bayfront trails that extend north and south along the peninsula.

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The park is named after Leo Ryan, the US congressman who flew to Jonestown, Guyana in November 1978 to investigate reports of abuse at Jim Jones's settlement. He was shot and killed at the Port Kaituma airstrip while trying to leave with defectors — the first US congressman assassinated in the line of duty. He represented the district that includes Foster City.

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