One of the world’s most beautiful cities, San Francisco has it all for runners. Views. Ocean. Hills. Paths. Trails. Good Weather. Variety. Accessibility. For the runner who wants to experience some of the greatest urban running and incredible trails within a stone’s throw of the downtown, our guide to running in San Francisco should be on your running bucket list. Note that San Francisco weather can be cool and changeable –bring layers–even in summer! And be prepared for some hills! If you’d like to have an in-person guided running experience in San Francisco, we highly recommend our friends at Go! Running Tours.
The highlight of San Francisco running is the myriad options around the Golden Gate Bridge: starting at the Embarcadero, over Fort Mason, along Crissy Field, toward the GG Bridge, and across it. There’s also great running in the Presidio, and down to Lands End and over to Ocean Beach. Golden Gate Park is one of the country’s great urban parks. We’ve also mapped out several terrific SF neighborhood routes, including Twin Peaks, Nob Hill, Sea Cliff, and Noe Valley. For a gorgeous destination run, take the ferry to Angel Island.
These San Francisco routes form part of a huge collection of wonderful running routes in the ‘Bay Area’: See our separate running guides for North San Francisco, Silicon Valley, East Bay, San Jose, Santa Cruz, Monterey/Big Sur, Napa, and Sonoma.
