49-Mile Scenic Drive

49-Mile Scenic Drive sign

The 49-Mile Scenic Drive (also known as 49-Mile Drive) in San Francisco highlights many of the city's major attractions and historic structures.

Opened on September 14, 1938 as a promotion for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, it features views of the then-newly-built Golden Gate Bridge (opened May 1937) and the Bay Bridge (opened November 1936). Then it terminated at the fairgrounds on Treasure Island.

Points of interest

City Hall Coit Tower Golden Gate Bridge Palace of Fine Arts Cable Car climbing Nob Hill. The Conservatory of Flowers Bay Bridge from The Embarcadero Ferry Building Lombard Street's famed twists

The Drive is marked by blue and white signs that lead one through the city. Currently the route begins at the intersection of Hayes Street and Van Ness Avenue, near City Hall:

• Civic Center
• Asian Art Museum
• Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)
• Japantown
• Union Square
• Chinatown
• Nob Hill
• Russian Hill
• Cable Car Barn
• Transamerica Pyramid
• North Beach
  • Washington Square
  • Coit Tower
• Pier 39
• Fisherman's Wharf
• Alcatraz
• The Cannery
• Ghirardelli Square
• Aquatic Park
• Lombard Street
• Marina Green
• Crissy Field
• Palace of Fine Arts - (Exploratorium)
• The Presidio
  • Letterman Digital Arts Center
  • Battery Chamberlin
• Golden Gate Bridge
• Fort Point
• Baker Beach
• Legion of Honor
• Richmond District
• Lincoln Park
• Sutro Baths (ruins)
• Great Highway
  • Cliff House
  • Seal Rock
  • Ocean Beach
  • The San Francisco Zoo
  • Lake Merced
• San Francisco State University
• Golden Gate Park
  • Strybing Arboretum
  • Japanese Tea Garden
  • de Young Museum
  • Academy of Sciences
  • Conservatory of Flowers
  • AIDS Memorial Grove
  • Kezar Stadium
• Haight-Ashbury
• Twin Peaks
• Castro District
  • Castro Theatre
• Mission Dolores
• AT&T Park
• Bay Bridge
• The Embarcadero
  • Ferry Building
  • Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
• Financial District
• Moscone Center

Sign History

The blue and white seagull "49-Mile Scenic Drive" sign was designed by a local artist named Rex May. May's design won the 1955 competition held by San Francisco's Downtown Association to create a new sign for the route. Prior to 1955 the city used blue and gold triangular signs. Some sources erroneously cite the origin date of the newer sign as 1938, which is actually the origin of the 49-Mile-Scenic Drive itself, but not the sign.

Route maintenance

Some of the 49-Mile Scenic Drive signs have gone missing over the years, presumably due to theft. Because of this, sometimes the route is hard to follow due to missing signs at major intersections. The San Francisco Department of Parking and Traffic attempts to replace a sign as soon as they are informed it is missing.

In popular culture

In the movie Quick Change, Randy Quaid is driving Geena Davis and Bill Murray through one of the boroughs of New York City. They get completely lost and begin looking for any type of sign that may help them find out where they are. Quaid's character eventually does discover one, a "49-Mile Scenic Drive" sign, which doesn't help him or his passengers find out where they are at all.

External links

• Map of original 1938 route
• More detailed driving map from Google
• Mapping/GPS files of the 49-Mile Drive, with very slight modifications/improvements
• Article in The SF Chronicle on the history of the 49 Mile Drive.