San Francisco’s bayfront is one of the world’s most iconic — and most visited. But that’s from the Ferry Building northward.
If you head south instead, there are certainly familiar spots, especially for local sports fans and for residents and workers turning an old railyard into a neighborhood. Development continues to transform this stretch of the city’s waterfront, from the Bay Bridge down past Mission Bay.
But on many days, the wind and bay water lapping against piers, not tourist chatter or stadium cheers, are the featured sounds. Many parts can feel like discoveries for all but the most seasoned city explorers.
On a recent afternoon, I traced a 5-mile route brimming with history, art, and new development beyond what postcards and city-guide listicles could ever provide. It’s also flat and welcoming to wheelchairs, no small thing in our hilly city.
Because so much of this walk touches upon the city’s working maritime history, I started at the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union (ILWU) Memorial on Steuart and Mission Streets, just north of where the “Cupid’s Arrow” statue frames (or ruins, if that’s your take) a Bay Bridge view.
Heading south along the Embarcadero, the next of my many stops was the city’s only floating fire station at Pier 22½. It dates back to 1913 after the 1906 earthquake demonstrated SF’s need for more agile emergency services, but the station and its fireboats are no relic. It was updated in 2020 to adapt to king tides and rising sea levels.
A great way to view the station is through the glass of the nearby Bow sculpture, which mimics the prow of a ship and has translucent photos of the fireboats through the years.
I passed beneath the Bay Bridge, heard the traffic rumbling on its double decks, and headed towards Fishing Pier 28. If you do this adventure in reverse, the next two spots would serve well as final stops. At the Hi-Dive Bar and Grill, at the foot of Pier 28, and a few steps south at Red’s Java House, you’ll find down-to-earth haunts with stunning bay views.
Both have food (the Hi-Dive is more varied), and the Hi-Dive pours stiff “DRAAANKS” (so says its sign out front). Red’s has minimalist burgers (no lettuce or tomato allowed) on sourdough, blurry photos of Anthony Bourdain dining in, and red vinyl stools and sticky tables.
Red’s is attached to what looks like a parking lot, but pause for a moment to contemplate Pier 30/32. This was where the famous West Coast waterfront strike began in 1934. The International Longshoremen and Warehousemen shut the port down in May. On July 5 — Bloody Thursday — police and the National Guard intervened, threw tear gas, injured thousands, and killed two people, one of several deadly days up and down the coast during the strike. The sculpture at Mission and Steuart, where I started my walk, commemorates the spot of the Bloody Thursday deaths.
This galvanic maritime history is a wild contrast from the post-industrial calm I experienced on my walk: it’s a peaceful place to sip Red’s molten hot coffee, chat up senior citizens working on sudoku puzzles, and watch the Bay Bridge traffic go by.
Old city, new art, splash hits
Just past Pier 30/32, the contrast between blue-collar past and current gilded age came into sharp focus. A patch of grass hosts an 18-foot metal sculpture, one of 100 pieces the Port of San Francisco will install as part of a 34-mile art walk. Google Maps calls it the “Embarcadero Fish,” but it’s officially “Atabey’s Treasure” and is meant to honor the Taíno goddess of water.
Next was Pier 40, where I veered left off the Embarcadero to stay bayside and check out South Beach Harbor and its beautiful sailboats and extended fishing pier.
Looming to my right was the San Francisco Giants’ home, Oracle Park. On game day, like it was on my excursion, the sound of 30,000-plus fans, plus the smell of street-corner hot dog vendors, will give it away.
Whether you love or hate the Giants (or just want them to be less controversial), there’s no arguing that the park is one of the nation’s most breathtaking baseball stadiums.
Follow the path around the water’s edge and find the seal statue outside the center field gates. It’s both a fun nod to bay life and an homage to the minor league team that called San Francisco home until 1957, when the New York Giants moved west. Among the Seals who’d go on to bigger things was a North Beach kid named Joe DiMaggio — a New York Yankees Hall of Famer, national icon, and briefly, Mr. Marilyn Monroe.
For more recent history, walk west down the “Port Walk” between the sliver of bay known as McCovey Cove (named after Hall of Fame Giant Willie McCovey) and the rear wall of the ballpark.
Embedded in the concrete are dozens of plaques highlighting moments from the team’s quarter-century in this location, including three World Series victories.
I also learned that a Giants’ home run will trigger fountains on the wall above the Port Walk, sending down a misty spray — a nice way to cool off on a hot day.
Tucked inside the wall is also a notch where you can watch the game for free for an inning or two. Even in bad weather, you’ll likely see kayakers in McCovey Cove with their mitts on, waiting for a rare splash hit.
Shipyards and railways
Having gotten my baseball fix, I turned left past the ballpark and crossed Mission Creek on the 3rd Street drawbridge. In the 1960s it was rechristened the Lefty O’Doul Bridge in honor of another local kid and minor-league Seal who became a big league star. The bridge was my first up-close taste of the truly industrial, riveted steel motif that would dominates the rest of the hike.
Designed by Joseph Strauss, who also drew up the Golden Gate Bridge, Dirty Harry fans will recognize this bridge immediately. It’s the last heel trunnion type bascule drawbridge in the city — one that opens via weighted counterbalances. It’s a landmark and still works for boats coming in and out of Mission Creek (but not on days with park events).
Over the bridge, I kept left and enjoyed one of San Francisco’s newest green spaces: China Basin Park, which includes a dog run, wooden boardwalk, tons of spots to sit, and (heads up!) a very active bike lane. It’s also a rare east-side chance to squidge your toes in sand under the watchful bronze eyes of McCovey, whose statue has been returned after the park’s construction.
Pro-tip: the park isn’t just great for viewing the cove’s kayakers; at sunset, views north are a feast for the eyes. During the 2010 World Series, it was also the site of local activity that made one out-of-town reporter’s newscast go viral.
At this point, I could have headed west up Mission Creek to check out a different kind of flotilla — houseboats — but I decided to save them for last. Instead, as a history nerd, I wanted more SF maritime industry. It hasn’t all been swept away by the redevelopment down here.
Stay close to the bay and you’ll pass the massive Pier 50 and its Port of San Francisco sign. A few steps more to the south are two “yacht clubs” with nary a yacht in sight. They function more as social clubs and share a cove with another remnant of a different era: the wooden and steel ruins of the railway ferry, where train cars were barged across the bay to and from Richmond, which has a mirror-image ruin along its shore. Passengers and cargo making a transcontinental trek would pass through here.
The slip was abandoned after a fire in 1984 and now evokes more ruin-porn than industrial-heyday vibes.
Just beyond is yet another new green space, Bayfront Park, which sits next to Chase Center, home of the Golden State Warriors and plenty of other events. It’s hard to imagine that this shoreline was once a marshy wetland.
But just past Bayfront Park is a great reminder that nature is still at hand. At the Agua Vista Park Public Fishing Pier, seasoned anglers show up in the shoulder hours, when fish are most active. The bay is far cleaner now than in the 20th century, but if you’re fishing, check signs that flag which species are safe to eat. And if you’re barbecuing on one of the pier’s grills, remember to discard your hot coals in the right bin.
There’s also reportedly a bicycle graveyard in the water at the end of the pier, a memorial to the city’s fallen bike messengers, but the water is too murky to see anything.
My final stop southward was Crane Cove Park, which has converted what was once a major shipbuilding site, especially during World War II, into an outdoor museum and recreation space.
Huge tools, such as a steel lathe and radio drill press, have been preserved, as have the cranes that helped get the battleships and others into the water. Now the cove launches a thousand kayaks and paddleboards, which let you get up close to the massive dry docks, only recently shuttered and now in dangerous disrepair.
Back to the houseboats
South of Crane Cove, there are two new neighborhoods rising, but also long, often deserted blocks, weeds instead of green space, a giant electrical substation, and plenty of chain-link fence. Let’s save those for another adventure.
To wrap up my journey, I wanted to circle back to see the houseboats and more of the Mission Bay neighborhood, the only one in SF to grow in sales tax revenue and population during the pandemic. Once railyards and warehouses, the revival began in the 1990s when the University of California San Francisco expanded here with research labs, clinics, and more recently a children’s hospital.
The hope was to grow a world-class biotechnology hub, and there’s a biomedicine presence here. But tech firms have also put down roots (Uber, OpenAI), as have thousands of residents. SF’s first new public school in 20 years is opening in Mission Bay next month.
From Crane Cove, I headed north on Illinois Street to the Chase Center, then took a left on 16th Street. I then took a right on 4th Street, walked past UCSF’s Koret Quad on the left, and kept north until I saw tents, picnic tables, and community gardens.
The social heart of the neighborhood, on Mission Bay Boulevard, includes a lineup of food trucks next door to a mini-golf course. It’s another great option for an afternoon snack and coffee. Two blocks northwest on Corinne Woods Way, I reached my final — and favorite — stop of the journey: the Mission Creek Channel houseboats.
The 20 floating homes and their eccentric, extravagant designs are easy to see from the creekside park. Keep your eyes peeled for the blue and gold bungalow with a sheep sculpture on deck. The homes cost a pretty penny and rarely go on the market.
Some residents reportedly prefer “floating home” to houseboat, as the latter term implies the ability to motor about independently. These homes were originally two miles south in Islais Creek but when they had to move to make room for merchant shipping, they needed a tow.
If you’re ready for refreshment — not the “jump in the bay” kind — you have plenty of options. The food trucks are back a couple blocks; 3rd Street has a host of options; and Mission Rock Resort, The Ramp, and the Atwater Tavern are all closer to the water. (Check The Ramp schedule for live music.) If you finish before 3 p.m., Arsicault Bakery’s newer Mission Rock location has legendary croissants and cold brew.
How to get there
The start of our route is a short walk from the Muni and BART Embarcadero stations or several bus lines, including the 38-Geary or 5-Fulton. If you’re working in reverse, Muni’s 15-Third and 22-Fillmore buses and T-Third train come through Mission Bay. The Caltrain terminus is just over the creek at 4th and King.
