An Ocean-to-Bay Hike: San Francisco’s Double Cross Trail

Native dune plants at Fort Funston at the southwest end of the Double Cross Trail. Photo: Helen Doyle

Helen Doyle wrote about nature along San Francisco’s Double Cross Trail for Bay Nature:

Less than 300 years ago, San Francisco was a land of hills and sand dunes, where Ramaytush-speaking Ohlone lived in seasonal communities along creeks and the Bay. They lived lightly on the land in sharp contrast to the dense urban city we know today.

San Francisco’s Double Cross Trail invites us to imagine that not-so-distant past and envision a future more deeply connected with the natural landscape. Added as a companion to the original Crosstown Trail in June 2024, the 15-mile Double Cross diagonally traverses the city from its southwest corner at Fort Funston to the northeast at the Embarcadero, passing by freshwater lakes and former creeks that once flowed to the Bay, climbing hills and stairways to jaw-dropping views, and winding through historic town squares where native plants and wildlife still thrive. 

Read more in Bay Nature’s Autumn 2025 issue.

The Double Cross Trail’s northeast end at Pier 23, on the Embarcadero just below Coit Tower. Photo: Helen Doyle

Helen is a member of Nature in the City’s Advisory Council and represents the organization on the SF Crosstown Trails Coalition.