10 Best Running in San Francisco (Costs & Tips, 2026)

This is the actual course of one of the oldest annual footraces in the country, held since 1912, cutting 7.5 miles straight across the city from the Embarcadero to Ocean Beach. Free to run anytime outside race day itself (the third Sunday in May), when it turns into one of the most famously chaotic, costume-filled races in the country.

Running the full 1.7-mile pedestrian sidewalk across an active, working suspension bridge is a genuinely different experience from driving or biking it — the deck moves slightly underfoot in wind, which nobody mentions until you feel it yourself. Free, and pair it with a loop back through the Marin Headlands parking area before returning if you want to make it a longer out-and-back.

A flat, wide gravel-and-sand path runs the entire length of this former airfield with the Golden Gate Bridge growing larger the whole way out — flat enough that it's a genuinely approachable route even for someone who doesn't run trails elsewhere. Free, with restrooms and water fountains spaced along the path, unusual for a route this scenic.

The road through the park's eastern half has stayed permanently car-free since the pandemic, which turned what used to be a narrow sidewalk-only run into a full, wide, traffic-free promenade running past the Conservatory of Flowers and the bison paddock. Free, flat, and shaded most of the way by the park's dense tree canopy.

A dead-flat waterfront path strings together the Ferry Building, Pier 39, and the Bay Bridge in a single stretch, which packs more landmark density per mile than almost any other run in the city. Free, and running it early morning before the tourist crowds arrive at the piers is a genuinely different experience from running it at noon.

The trail hugs cliffside bluffs the entire way before dropping you onto miles of open sand at Ocean Beach, a genuine shift in terrain and feel partway through a single run that few routes anywhere can match. Free, though the cliffside sections have real elevation change and exposed drop-offs, worth respecting rather than running at full pace.

Eucalyptus and pine forest cover most of this loop through the Presidio's interior, a genuinely wooded trail-running feel that most people don't associate with San Francisco at all until they're standing in it. Free, with real hills throughout — this is the route on this list with the most actual elevation gain.

A 4.4-mile paved loop circles this freshwater lake at the city's southwestern edge, flatter and longer than almost anything else on this list, which makes it the default choice for local running clubs training for actual distance. Free, and quiet enough on a weekday morning that you'll mostly share it with rowers out on the water.

Starting on sand and finishing beneath the bridge's south tower gives this short route two completely different textures underfoot in under two miles — soft beach give way to firm cliffside trail as you climb toward Fort Point. Free, and the bridge looms progressively larger the entire way, which makes the distance feel shorter than it is.

The skyline appears and disappears behind headlands as you circle the island, a rotating view no fixed-route city run can match, since the paved perimeter road stays completely car-free for the entire 5-mile loop. Reachable only by ferry — $31 round trip at the walk-up price, $20 with a Clipper or contactless card — which also means the road is never shared with traffic at any point.