This past weekend was the official debut of the new Crosstown Trail, a 17-mile stretch of developed trail that crosses San Francisco. The northern end of the trail winds through the Richmond District from Funston & Fulton to the Lands End Lookout.
The complete trail stretches from Candlestick Point to Lands End, winding its way through city streets, as well as parks and recreation areas including St. Mary’s Park, John McLaren Park, Glen Canyon Park and Golden Gate Park. The goal of the trail was to better connect the city’s parks.
And if 17 miles sounds a little daunting for a jog or hike, bikes are welcome along the stretch as well.
The trail just officially opened, so not all the signage and trail markings are installed. So be sure to use a smartphone app or download a map to stay on track.
Sarah B.
Would appreciate an estimate of the time required to complete the trail for average walkers.
A friend and I hiked the ‘Richmond neighborhood to Glen Park BART’ section of the SF Crosstown trail last weekend – my health tracker noted 20,000 steps and just shy of 8 miles, but we had to double-back a couple of times after getting off track so probably did extra steps. It took around 3 hours (with one break), but I would think ordinarily should not take quite as long.
5-6 hours depending on breaks and your fitness level. It’s pretty tough, especially all the stairs in section 3. I did it back to back on Thursday and Friday, starting at Lands End and camping at Sunrise Point. La Corneta made for a perfect dinner stop at the end of section 4 on Thursday, and I stopped in Sunrise Market (slight detour) in the Inner Sunset on the way back. Awesome experience and totally unique! Can’t wait to do it all over.
Thanks for the report, Phil!