You don’t have to be a serious hiker to experience some of the best outdoor places in San Francisco.
In fact, some of my favorite San Francisco walks and easy hiking trails require little more than comfortable shoes and a willingness to slow down. Within a relatively small area, the city gives you Pacific coastline, wooded trails, hidden canyons, enormous parks and miles of waterfront paths.
And then there are the views.
The Golden Gate Bridge appears between the trees at Lands End. Sailboats drift across the bay from Marina Green. From Twin Peaks, much of San Francisco spreads out beneath you. And at Ocean Beach, the city simply ends at the Pacific.
This isn’t a list of challenging hikes. It’s for travelers who enjoy walking and being outdoors but aren’t necessarily looking to spend the day tackling steep trails or difficult terrain.
If you’re looking for easy hikes and scenic walks in San Francisco, these are 10 places I’d recommend.
1. Twin Peaks: Panoramic Views Over San Francisco
Difficulty: Moderate
Terrain: Paved paths, slopes and stairs
Best for: Panoramic views and getting your bearings
If you’re new to San Francisco, Twin Peaks is a great place to start.
At roughly 900 feet above sea level, the two peaks provide one of the best panoramic views of San Francisco. You don’t have to hike all the way up from below, either. Drive or take a rideshare to the parking area and the remaining walk to the viewpoints is relatively short, although there are some stairs and uphill sections.
The real attraction is what happens when you reach the top.
On a clear day, you can pick out downtown San Francisco, the Bay Bridge, Golden Gate Park and the Pacific Ocean. It’s almost like looking at a three-dimensional map of the city.
Twin Peaks is also a good introduction to San Francisco’s famously unpredictable weather. Fog can roll across the hills and obscure everything, only to disappear minutes later.
Bring a light jacket even when the rest of the city feels warm.
2. Lands End: One of San Francisco’s Best Coastal Walks
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate
Terrain: Dirt trails, stairs and some hills
Best for: Pacific Ocean views, Golden Gate Bridge views and coastal scenery
If I had time for only one scenic walk in San Francisco, Lands End would be near the top of my list.
The Lands End Trail follows the rugged northwestern edge of the city, with the Pacific Ocean below and cypress trees surrounding sections of the path. Every so often, the trees open up and you get another spectacular view of the coastline or Golden Gate Bridge.
There are stairs and some elevation changes, but you don’t have to complete the entire Lands End Trail to enjoy it. That’s one of the things I like about this walk. You can make it as short or as long as you want.
Don’t miss the Sutro Baths ruins near the western end. Once part of an enormous late-19th-century public bathhouse complex, the ruins have become one of the most atmospheric places along the San Francisco coast.
But don’t rush from landmark to landmark. Some of the best views at Lands End appear when you aren’t expecting them.
3. The Presidio & Crissy Field: Walk Toward the Golden Gate Bridge
Difficulty: Easy
Terrain: Mostly flat paved paths and trails
Best for: Golden Gate Bridge views and easy waterfront walking
The Presidio of San Francisco could easily fill an entire day. The former military post is now a huge park with historic buildings, wooded trails, beaches and some of the city’s best viewpoints.
For a casual walk, however, Crissy Field is hard to beat.
The waterfront path is mostly flat and gives you an almost constant view of the Golden Gate Bridge. The closer you walk toward the bridge, the more impressive it becomes.
This is San Francisco at its postcard best: the bay on one side, the Presidio on the other, sailboats on the water and the Golden Gate Bridge ahead.
And unlike some of San Francisco’s hillier attractions, you don’t have to work particularly hard for the view.
Prefer to see it rather than read about it? Watch the video below and experience these San Francisco walks for yourself.
4. Marina Green: An Easy San Francisco Waterfront Walk
Difficulty: Very Easy
Terrain: Flat paved paths and grass
Best for: Golden Gate Bridge views, sailboats and people-watching
Continue east from Crissy Field and you’ll eventually reach Marina Green.
There isn’t really a “hike” here, and that’s precisely the point.
This broad waterfront park is where San Francisco comes to run, cycle, walk dogs, picnic and simply hang out. The walking is almost completely flat, and the views stretch across the bay toward Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge.
It’s also one of those places where you don’t need an itinerary. Walk for 20 minutes, find a bench, watch the sailboats and keep going when you feel like it.
Sometimes that’s exactly the kind of outdoor experience you want while traveling.
5. Golden Gate Park: An Easy Walk Through San Francisco’s Green Heart
Difficulty: Easy
Terrain: Mostly paved paths and garden trails
Best for: Gardens, museums, lakes and leisurely wandering
Golden Gate Park is enormous—more than three miles long and actually larger than New York’s Central Park.
Rather than treating it as one long walk, I think it’s better to choose a few places that interest you and wander between them.
There are gardens, lakes, meadows, museums and wooded areas throughout the park. One of the best-known stops is the Japanese Tea Garden, the oldest public Japanese garden in the United States, with landscaped paths, bridges, ponds and traditional Japanese design.
The park also works well if different people in your group want different things. One person can visit a museum while someone else walks the gardens or simply finds a quiet bench under the trees.
Traveler’s Tip: Don’t try to “complete” Golden Gate Park. Pick a section and enjoy it. The park is much bigger than it first appears on a map.
6. Ocean Beach: A Long Walk Along the Pacific
Difficulty: Easy
Terrain: Sand and paved paths
Best for: Beach walks, sunsets and Pacific Ocean views
At the western edge of Golden Gate Park, San Francisco simply runs into the Pacific.
Ocean Beach stretches for several miles, so there isn’t really a beginning or end to this walk. You can stroll along the sand, use the paved paths above the beach or combine the two.
There are no attractions you need to check off a list. That’s part of the appeal.
Walk until you’ve had enough, turn around and walk back.
On a sunny afternoon, it’s one of the simplest and most refreshing walks in San Francisco. On a foggy day, it becomes an entirely different experience—moody, windswept and unmistakably San Francisco.
Ocean Beach can also connect naturally with Lands End, making it possible to combine the two into a much longer San Francisco coastal walk.
7. Glen Canyon Park: A Hidden Hiking Trail in San Francisco
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate
Terrain: Natural dirt trails and canyon paths
Best for: Quiet trails, natural scenery and escaping the crowds
Glen Canyon Park surprised me.
Surrounded by residential neighborhoods, the canyon feels far more secluded than you’d expect from something sitting in the middle of San Francisco.
We walked down toward Glen Canyon after visiting Twin Peaks, which makes for an interesting combination. One minute you’re looking across the entire city from above; not long afterward, you’re walking among grasses, rocky slopes and natural vegetation in a quiet canyon.
We didn’t explore the entire canyon, but even the section we walked was enough to make me want to return.
If you’re looking for a lesser-known San Francisco hiking trail away from places like Lands End and Golden Gate Park, put Glen Canyon on your list.
8. Crane Cove Park to Oracle Park: San Francisco Urban Waterfront Walk
Distance: About 3 km / 2 miles
Difficulty: Very Easy
Terrain: Flat paved waterfront paths
Best for: Urban scenery, waterfront parks and modern San Francisco
Not every great San Francisco walk needs mountains, forests or cliffs.
One of the city’s most interesting urban walks follows the San Francisco Bay waterfront north from Crane Cove Park in Dogpatch, past Chase Center and Mission Creek, toward Oracle Park.
This part of San Francisco feels very different from the historic waterfront around Fisherman’s Wharf. Former industrial areas have been transformed with parks, new residential developments, restaurants and pedestrian-friendly spaces along the bay.
The route is flat, easy and constantly changing.
Starting around Crane Cove Park, you’ll pass the Chase Center and Mission Bay, cross the Mission Creek area and eventually reach Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants.
If you’ve already seen the city’s famous landmarks, this is a good walk for discovering a newer side of San Francisco.
9. Rodeo Beach: An Easy Marin Headlands Coastal Walk
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate
Terrain: Pebble beach and coastal trails
Best for: Rugged scenery, photography and Pacific views
Cross the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin County and the landscape changes remarkably quickly.
Rodeo Beach sits within the Marin Headlands, surrounded by hills and coastal cliffs. Instead of the broad sand of Ocean Beach, you’ll find a shoreline covered with small, colorful pebbles.
You can keep things very easy and simply walk along the beach, or climb onto the surrounding trails for higher viewpoints.
Either way, Rodeo Beach feels considerably farther from San Francisco than it actually is.
It’s a particularly good choice if you have a car and want to combine an easy coastal walk with a drive through the Marin Headlands.
10. Devil’s Slide Trail: A Highway Turned Into a Coastal Walk
Difficulty: Easy
Terrain: Paved, car-free path with gradual slopes
Best for: Clifftop Pacific Ocean views
Devil’s Slide Trail may be the most unusual walk on this list.
About 30 minutes south of San Francisco on the San Mateo County coast, a former section of California’s Highway 1 has been converted into a pedestrian and cycling trail after highway traffic was rerouted through tunnels.
That means you’re essentially walking along an old highway carved into the cliffs—with no cars.
The paved trail follows the coastline high above the Pacific, with ocean views for almost the entire route. There are gradual slopes, but the walking itself is straightforward.
Several overlooks provide places to stop and take in the scenery, and depending on the season, you may spot seabirds and marine mammals offshore.
For casual hikers, Devil’s Slide offers a lot of scenery without requiring a difficult hike.
Which San Francisco Walk Should You Choose?
If you’re visiting San Francisco for the first time, I’d prioritize Lands End, Crissy Field and Twin Peaks. Together they give you three very different perspectives of the city.
For something quieter, try Glen Canyon Park. For an easy beach walk, head to Ocean Beach. If you want to see a more modern side of San Francisco, walk the waterfront from Crane Cove Park through Mission Bay to Oracle Park.
And if you have a car and a little more time, Rodeo Beach and Devil’s Slide Trail are both worth venturing beyond the city limits.
The biggest lesson from exploring San Francisco on foot is that you don’t have to be an experienced hiker to enjoy its outdoors.
Some of the best experiences here aren’t really hikes at all.
They’re simply great places to walk.
And in a city with this much scenery packed into such a small area, that’s often all you need.
Planning Your San Francisco Walks
You don’t need specialized hiking equipment for any of the walks on this list, but comfortable walking shoes are a good idea. San Francisco’s weather can also change surprisingly quickly, particularly around Twin Peaks, Lands End and the Pacific coast, so carrying a light layer is worthwhile even on a sunny day.
If you only have one day, you could combine Lands End and Ocean Beach on the western side of the city, or Crissy Field and Marina Green along the bay. With more time, Twin Peaks and Glen Canyon make another interesting pairing.
Most importantly, don’t feel you have to cover everything. San Francisco is one of those cities where slowing down and walking a smaller area often reveals more than racing between attractions.
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