Ever since we moved to San Francisco, I’ve been intrigued by the Barbary Coast Trail. There are shiny plaques in the sidewalk through Chinatown, North Beach, and the Union Square area pointing out the route.
Connecting the city’s most important landmarks from the days of the Gold Rush, the tour features a wealth of historic sites and a good excuse for some fresh air and exercise — we covered more than six miles.
As it turns out, this will be my last post from San Francisco for a while. As you’ll soon see, we’ve moved on to another part of the world… for now. Stay tuned!
We embarked on this last hurrah in San Francisco with friends. Ekibo deserves credit for a number of the snaps in this post — he has a much fancier camera than I do.
Join us on a Barbary Coast Trail self-guided walking tour, a walk that has quickly become one of my favorite things to do in the San Francisco Bay Area.
What is the Barbary Coast Trail?
The Barbary Coast Trail is a San Francisco walking route that winds its way through neighborhoods representing the city’s colorful past.
The trail was inaugurated in 1998 and runs 3.8 miles end-to-end. The Barbary Coast Trail will take you past more than 20 historic sites in some of San Francisco’s oldest and most iconic neighborhoods.
You’ll walk through North Beach, Fisherman’s Wharf, Chinatown, and the Financial District as you relive San Francisco’s rich history stemming from the Gold Rush era.
The moniker “Barbary Coast” is a reference to the notorious red-light district that occupied the area in the mid-19th century. Here you’d find raucous saloons, gambling dens, and brothels frequented by shady characters like pirates, smugglers, thieves, and rogues.
Barbary Coast Trail Map
Plan your route with this handy map of the Barbary Coast Trail in San Francisco. Click on the image of the map below to open up an interactive version in Google Maps.
Getting to the Barbary Coast Trail Terminus via Cable Car
We started at the Fisherman’s Wharf terminus of the Hyde Street Cable Car line and watched, mesmerized as the operator turned the vehicle around by hand.
We quickly boarded and were on our way!
The Hyde Street Cable Car line is particularly touristy. Photographers stood at the top and documented our approach up the hill.
Our cable car driver was hilarious and fun, but I have to say he wasn’t smiling quite so much when the cable car broke down en route to the far terminus and we were forced to disembark ahead of schedule near the top of Nob Hill next to a sign for the Tonga Room — ‘Paradise is Just Around the Corner,’ we were promised.
Barbary Coast Trail Starting Point at San Francisco’s Old Mint
With a little extra foot power, we made our way to the start of the Barbary Coast Trail in front of the Old Mint. I had a book, Walking San Francisco on the Barbary Coast Trail, that contained detailed descriptions of all the important places along the route.
While the book would also make for good armchair reading, we were regaled on the spot with tales of how heroic workers protected the Old Mint and the gold inside against the fire that erupted after the 1906 earthquake.
The Barbary Coast Trail is easy to follow. Just keep an eye out for the bronze medallions on the sidewalk.
The Barbary Coast Trail Around Union Square
We continued into Union Square… There were some interesting sidewalk plaques unrelated to the Barbary Coast Trail in the park. We saw both a menorah and a director’s chair.
Nearby Maiden Lane features a building (now the Xanadu Gallery) designed and signed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Follow the Barbary Coast Trail Through San Francisco’s Chinatown
We continued into Chinatown and were greeted by a rather friendly-looking Godzilla, a hapless robot…
…and fortune cookies! We were able to watch the production process at the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie factory hidden away on Ross Lane.
The rest of the crowd seemed immune to the art on display along the network of alleys in Chinatown.
We encountered an idyllic statue of Sun Yat-Sen in the hidden park behind St. Mary’s Church.
We continued following the trail through Portsmouth Square Park, which features a variety of striking sculptures.
I loved this composition with a pigeon perched upon a statue against the backdrop of the Transamerica Pyramid.
The Barbary Coast Trail Through North Beach
We had already walked quite a distance, so when we passed Francis Ford Coppola’s Cafe Zoetrope, we knew it was the perfect place for lunch. There were four of us at lunch, so we opted to share a pitcher of Coppola’s fine vino with our meal.
Refueled, we continued on and saw this Chinese street band performing near the North Beach border.
We encountered an unexpected 360-degree rainbow as a halo around the sun on our walk through North Beach — it was a gorgeous afternoon! We saw odds and ends in a curious window display in a North Beach storefront.
The trail took an uphill turn toward Coit Tower, where we chanced upon “Poet’s Corner”.
We could see Coit Tower in the distance but decided not to take the uphill detour to the majestic fire hose itself.
There are some gorgeous houses in this part of the city, including this nicely decorated estate.
We wandered up a nearby staircase into San Francisco’s smallest “park”…
The views were lovely, but the “park” was little more than a small balcony at the top of the staircase.
The Barbary Coast Trail Descent from Telegraph Hill
We descended Telegraph Hill, emerged onto the Embarcadero, and wound our way through Fisherman’s Wharf back to our starting point by the cable car stop.
The Barbary Coast Trail gave us a fantastic excuse to explore some of San Francisco’s nooks and crannies before our onward journey.
