San Francisco Crosstown Trail Map Poster

The San Francisco Crosstown Trail is a 17 mi (27 km) walk diagonally across San Francisco, from Candlestick Point on the bay in the southeast corner of the city to Lands End on the Pacific in the northwest. It never leaves the city, but it avoids the famous sights and links parks, canyons, greenways, garden paths and public stairways instead: McLaren Park, Glen Canyon, the trails below Sutro Tower, Grand View Park, Golden Gate Park, the Presidio and the coast at Baker Beach.

Most people walk it northbound in one long day of eight or nine hours, with about 2,600 ft (790 m) of climbing, and many split it over two or three days. The route comes in five official sections, each ending at a BART or Muni stop, and there are no trail signs anywhere, so walkers follow the Coalition's cue sheets or an app. The high point is Grand View Park at 666 ft (203 m), and the route comes down from it by the 163 mosaic steps of the 16th Avenue Tiled Steps.

The trail was first proposed in 2012, routed by volunteers in 2018 and opened on National Trails Day in June 2019, with more than 200 people walking it together. It finishes at the Lands End Lookout, above the ruins of the Sutro Baths. No cable cars, plenty of stairs, and the whole walk on a San Francisco Crosstown Trail map poster.