Barbary Coast Trail
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San Francisco Museum and Historical Society

The Barbary Coast Trail is a project of the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society. The Society preserves, interprets and presents the historical heritage of San Francisco from its variegated natural history to its lively human history.

 

 

San Francisco Historical Walking Tours

From the days of the Gold Rush to the 1906 earthquake and fire, San Francisco’s history is rich with dynamic events and storied characters. The Barbary Coast Trail® is a San Francisco walking tour that connects the City’s most important historic sites, drawing you into a world of gold seekers and railroad barons, writers and visionaries, shanghiers and silver kings.

A series of bronze medallions and arrows embedded in the sidewalk connect the Barbary Coast 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 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.

Our Barbary Coast Trail® walking tours of San Francisco feature the historic sites that made the city famous.
• You’ll see the plaza where Sam Brannan kicked off the Gold Rush
• A graveyard of Gold Rush ships buried beneath the streets
• A shanghaiing den where sailors were once kidnapped
• A barstool where beat writer Jack Keroauc once sat
• The finest Italianate Victorian buildings in San Francisco
• The largest collection of historic ships in the United States
• Beautiful views of San Francisco Bay, and more . . .

Also along the Barbary Coast Trail® walking tour, you’ll find great restaurants offering a wide array of distinctive dishes, from dim sum to garlicky pasta to fresh crab to all American hamburgers.

 

Three Ways to Walk the Barbary Coast Trail

Audio Tours


Printed Guides


Guided Tours

1. Audio Tours
Download our digital audio tour onto your mp3 player, iPod/iPhone or smartphone and you’ll hear the rumbling of the 1906 earthquake, the hoofbeats of the Pony Express, and the unfurling of clipper ship sails. (click)

2. Printed Guides
Two printed guides are available at San Francisco bookstores or by mail order. (click)

3. Guided Tours
Trail creator Daniel Bacon is your personal guide. Guided tours are available by appointment only. (click)

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