Barbary Coast Trail

This walking trail is a great way to see historical sights through the city especially related to two significant time periods for San Francisco, the Gold Rush and the earthquake of 1906. The trail is just under 4 miles long and starts at the Mint and at Aquatic Park. There are bronze trail markers that guide your path. You can take the tour, but I recommend doing it on your own so you can linger or speed through the sights and stop in at all the modern delights along the way.
I ordered the guide, which is helpful. You get the map and the historical information on the landmarks so you can plan ahead and make sure you see what interests you. I like to wander and diverge from the path though so we spent half a day, but you could speed through in a few hours if you wanted to. If you don’t rush, you really get to see things you wouldn’t spot from a car or a tour bus. Stop to shop, eat and drink, there are great places on the path or slightly off of it. This guy put together a map of places to eat and drink along the way that you can add to, but you can also just map it out and do your recon on Unilocal.
Wear comfortable shoes. There is a lot of walking and hills involved. At the end of the trail you can catch the cable car, bus or taxi back.
Great for tourists and natives.

Recently, I had the opportunity to take a tour with Daniel Bacon, creator of the Barbary Coast Trail. I can’t say enough about the experience, both from a docent standpoint and in terms of the content — both were very, very cool.
I spend a lot… maybe too much… time reading up on San Francisco history, so I was aware of some of what transpired within these blocks, but Daniel opened my eyes to so many more of the hidden stories (and boats!) than I realized existed.
Further, hearing these stories in the locations where they took place — locations I pass by daily without much though — put everything in a whole new light for me.
I went with a group of coworkers on a company function, and some of my coworkers had no clue that anything had ever really happened around our quiet little office, so there was plenty of wonder and awe expressed by the group after the tour.
This city, man… it’s great. Daniel Bacon and the Barbary Coast Trail make it even better.

Who doesn’t love the Ol Barbary Coast?! City of gambling, prostitution and crime! Funny thing is I’ve never done the whole Barbary Coast Trail all at once. And there are tours you can do with a guide or self guided. You can even donate to the cause.
I always say one of these days when I get some extra money I’m gonna get me a gold marking of my own to forever memorialize my family name into this city I love so much (it’s tax deduxtable too!).
This year is the 2^nd annual Barbary Coast Trail walk. Fun for the whole fam. I was really bummed when I found out I have to go to a wedding this year and can’t do it. I am hoping next year it’s a go.
If you haven’t seen the trail… go find it. Follow it and you”ll find your way home.

Historic!
Walking Tour!
San Francisco!
The Barbary Coast Trail is just plain awesomeness wrapped in historic awesomeness. Too vague for you? Let’s get specific:
The trail winds through the streets of SF, from the Old Mint near Market St. all the way out to Aquatic Park and up to Nob Hill. It’s a lengthy walk for sure, so give yourself plenty of time to stop and soak up the history.
We grabbed the guide booklet at the SF Tourism shop at the Powell St. Bart station for $ 9. A worthwhile investment! From there we headed off, following the golden seals that dot the sidewalks along the trail. How many are there? Well, we counted somewhere around 160-​ish. Waaay too many to count!
Highlights of the trail include:
Maiden Lane
Ross Alley
Jackson Square Historic District
Hyde Street Pier
Sure, you might find yourself off course now and then; those markers can be tricky to spot sometimes! But it’s like a treasure hunt. There’s always a little nugget of history right around the corner, even in plain sight! I learned so many awesome historic facts at places I had visited before.
On the down-​side, as the trail got down to Pier 39 it lost some of its luster. Perhaps it was the throng of tourists, or because I had been there many many times before. To offer some advice, skip that part. Check it out separately along with Hyde Street Pier. The Nob Hill section is great as well, but can be done another time as well.
The Barbary Coast trail lived up to all my expectations and then some! This would be fun for anyone, but especially a local. It’s so awesome to find history right in our backyard. And San Francisco is full of it!

Wow! Just… Wow!
Every day I am more I more amazed by our great city & its incredible history. If you want to learn wonderful tidbits about places you pass every day, this is the tour for you! Or if you ARE a tourist who is looking for a somewhat non-​touristy thing to do, this is the event for you!
«From the days of the Gold Rush and the Barbary Coast, to the 1906 earthquake and the Beat renaissance, San Francisco’s history is rich with dynamic events and storied characters» And it’s so true!!!
Start it at the US Mint, right beside Powell Street Station… wind your way around the Cable Car Stop, through Chinatown, the Financial District & North Beach on down to Fisherman’s Wharf
The tour can take as long as you want — in the 3.8 miles total, you can stop in the various buildings, shops, & churches to look at even more history or just breeze on by after the description is complete
Discover plaques on the buildings I never noticed before that commemorate the great people & feats accomplished to build our great city… and to ensure you stay on the «trail», there are bronze «compasses» embedded along the sidewalks to guide you on your way
Best part about this tour? You can download it to your iPod & listen at your leisure… they also include map pdfs to print at home… it’s a complete kit for only $ 25! No time limits & no «tipping» the presenter at the end… BRILLIANT!
Rainy or cold? No problem — you can pick up the tour at another day
Wanna go again? No problem as you have the details saved to remember them fondly over & over
This is definitely something I’ll do again & again

4.5 star trail because I kept getting lost. Approximately 2 hour trail.
Bring a booklet/​map of the trail
Adventure out to SF for a few hours
Rely on those trail markers
Bring water, a jacket, and good shoes…
And expect time to get lost… A LOT! :P
Rain or shine, it’s still a nice walk!
You will truly enjoy the views of the city!
From the beginning to the end of this trail I always seemed to get lost and miss where those metal markers went. I thought the trail started at Mission and 5^th, but I only saw one on Market and 5^th. Just after seeing 2 of those markers on the ground I got lost again. haha And I ended up walking on Grant, but found the markers by Maiden Lane. There was some construction going around the Coit Tower, so the trail by there deadended. By Fort Mason, I didn’t see where the trail ended so I kept walking… and walked all the way to the marina. ahahaha So I probably did a 4.8 mile walk today. Good exercise! Nice views! And fun to walk through the city! :)
If I could improve this trail, I’d not go in circles in Chinatown next time and just walk through Chinatown into North Beach.

Today, we walked the guided tour with my class and enjoyed Daniel Bacon’s colorful storytelling about our city’s history.
We learned about:
the Gold Rush
Emperor Norton (all true San Franciscans know about him!)
the Pony Express
Commercial Street
the origins of the name «Barbary Coast»
Even though I was familiar with some of these stories, Daniel was able to make them entertaining for me AND my students. Now that’s saying a lot.
If you don’t want to set up a personal tour, I suggest getting the booklet, a pair of good walking shoes, and take a walk around downtown to get some insight about the vibrant past of San Francisco.

This is a must do for locals! I was bored. I was broke. My support system had plans for the day that didn’t involve me. So I looked at a map of San Francisco to see what I might see.
I’ve never really explored the Fort Mason area and was wondering if there were any walking trails to follow to get a feel for it. I looked up San Francisco Walking Trails using my Yahoo! search engine and the first thing to pop up was the Barbary Coast Walking Tour. With Barbary Coast in the name how could I stick to my Fort Mason plan and not roll with the obvious new plan.
The trail starts at 5^th and Mission at the old U.S. MInt and wanders and meanders it’s way over to the Aquatic Park area. It’s a 3.8 mile walk that takes you through who’s your daddy let’s go shopping territory to where’s my Unilocal buddies that looks like a great place to stop for drinks to I hope, Mom and Dad, that you’re enjoying your visit to Fisherman’s Wharf territory.
It’s a self-​guided tour where you follow the medallions embedded in the sidewalk (very cool) or you can download the audio for the audio tour or you can take a guided tour or you can buy the $ 9 official pocket guide or the $ 16 superspecial guidebook. So many options. I advise getting the $ 9 official pocket guide to keep from getting lost. You see I took the self-​guided tour and my tour guide sucked! He got me lost. Not lost in the city like I can’t find my way home, but lost as in where the hell did the trail go! When I mentioned medallions, did I mention that they were huge and any idiot could follow them?
I made it as far as Washington and Kearney before I got confused. Since I was confused I took a detour (just a couple of blocks) to an establishment on Kearney just this side of Broadway. After a «beer» I went back to the last medallion I had seen and tried again to pick up the trail but it proved to complicated for me. So I just hoofed it down to the Embarcadero, turned left, and marched up to Pier something or other and caught the 9x Bayshore City College bus back to 4^th and Market.
The bus ride itself was a hoot. Packed to the rafters with Chinese Americans and a few other assorted white, black, hispanic and other folk. We took Columbus for a while then turned up Stockton and took it through Chinatown then to Market and … The whole time the bus driver was yelling at the outside passengers to wait for the inside passengers to depart before rushing the door and honkin’ his horn at every opportunity. Remind me to never block a bus in the city.
I seriously recommend this walk. Take the pocket guide so you don’t get lost and you get all the historical information. Take a friend so you have someone to eat and drink with when you make spontaneous stops. You can do this as either an above reproach walking tour or you can do this as a drinkabout. The choice is yours, but pick a nice day and start early so that you can take your time and enjoy the city in a casual way that is a good workout and a feel good adventure.

This is as much fun for SF natives (us) as it is for tourists. Bring good walking shoes, and purchase the book for $ 10, it’s worth it. It’s kind of embarrassing walking around your own city with a guidebook, but there was a ton of info in there we didn’t know, and we’re history buffs. We’ve done this trail a number of times now, and can’t say enough how much we enjoyed it every time.

This thing should really get some more reviews. A.T. and I checked this self-​guided tour out yesterday. We started at 5^th and Mission near my work and had a very leisurely walk through the city. It was really great because we’ve gone for nice walks before but this one took you through streets and alleyways that you don’t usually walk through.
Some highlights: The Pacific Heritage Museum is nothing too special but it is FREE. We were the only two in there. They had an exhibit on the old old mint, and the rest of the museum had paintings by a Taiwanese artist. Strange combination but we enjoyed it.
I’ve always loved going to Vesuvio and City Lights Bookstore, and this tour took you right by both of them. We partook.
Waverly Place was great. I love functional alleyways. My back window looks out on an alleyway and I would just love if there was some little bar out there. But so far I have found that only Chinatown actually uses their alleyways for anything interesting. For shame.
Portsmouth Square: It was neat seeing all the old folks gamble away their quarters on top of old cardboard boxes with a beautiful view of the city skyline.
We skipped the last third of the tour because we were a little tired and who really needs to see Fisherman’s Wharf again?
When I have another visitor out here I’d like to take them on this tour.

Take a day and walk the historic trail. You’ll be glad you did. The trail goes from the Marina and ends up at the US Mint south of Market, or vice versa. Great way to see San Francisco from its tourist areas, to some very neat neighborhoods you most likely have never visited.
A series of bronze medallions and arrows embedded in the sidewalk connect the trail’s historic sites. Along a 3.8-mile path (mostly flat or gently sloping), the trail weaves its way through Downtown, Union Square, Chinatown, Portsmouth Square, Jackson Square Historic District, Old Barbary Coast, Beat San Francisco, North Beach, Telegraph Hill, Coit Tower, Fishermans Wharf, San Francisco Martime Historical National Park, Ghirardelli Square and Nob Hill.
Along the way, you will see:
— 20 historic sites
— 5 local history museums
— historic sailing ships
— lively pubs
— outdoor cafes
— panoramic views
Here’s the overview map:
Get a map at a local bookstore or off a web site. Not only does it show the trail, it give insightful comments as to the history of each location. To be a certified «Trail Walker» you have to step on all 170 bronze markers. Join the club, it’s great fun. Fantastic way to spend a day in SF. Of course you can stop along many of the 100’s or eating places to check out the local cuisine, and get some drink refreshments.
A hidden treasure of a walk, most locals do not know about.
Tally ho!