The Barbary Coast Trail® connects twenty of San Francisco’s most important historic sites. This comprehensive guide takes you to all of them and reveals a world populated by Gold Rushers, shanghaiers, Bonanza Kings, railroad barons, visionaries, and the pioneer women who tamed them.

The Barbary Coast Trail is San Francisco’s official historical walking trail. A series of bronze medallions set in the sidewalk mark the trail as it winds its way through vibrant neighborhoods. You’ll walk down Gold Rush-era streets and Chinatown alleys, past Barbary Coast melodeons and Bonanza King mansions on a journey of discovery. It’s great fun for the whole family!

Book chapters cover sections of the trail: Downtown, Chinatown, Old Barbary Coast, North Beach, Northern Waterfront, Nob Hill.

Whether you’re a life-long resident or a brief visitor, you’ll quickly become immersed in the heart and soul of San Francisco. You’ll explore areas devastated in 1906, then reclaimed from the ashes. You’ll visit the birthplace of the Gold Rush. You’ll walk through a graveyard of Gold Rush ships buried beneath the streets. You’ll experience the vibrant culture of North Beach, where Beat writers and artists once congregated and where Italian immigrants established a presence. You’ll visit the first Asian temple in North American and the first Catholic cathedral west of the Rockies. You’ll walk the on the decks of historic ships. You’ll find several local history museums, as well as many fine restaurants when you’re ready to take break.

It’s all waiting for you on the Barbary Coast Trail.