San Francisco Murals: 12 Places to Find the Most Colorful Pieces

If you love street art, you'll love discovering our thousands of San Francisco murals.

They are spread throughout the city in most neighborhoods, with the largest concentration in the colorful Mission District.

You will also find beautiful artwork gracing the walls inside Coit Tower, the Rincon Center, and the Beach Chalet.

Almost all of these are free to visit, and new murals pop up all the time! 

You can explore the places below on a self-guided tour of SF's murals. Or, you can join a guided tour if you want to learn even more. 

San Francisco Murals Map

In my San Francisco murals map, you'll see where to find each of the 12 locations that I describe in more detail below. 

The first four are in the Mission District, and the others are spread throughout the city.

The numbers that don't have a pin, but are rather small zones highlighted in red, indicate neighborhoods where you'll find several murals not just in one alleyway or building. 

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1. Clarion Alley

The first place to find street art in San Francisco is in the Clarion Alley in the Mission District. You will find more than a dozen vibrant murals along this one-block stretch.

The Clarion Alley Mural Project began in 1992 by a group of local artists and residents, and has since been home to over 900 murals. Many are focused on social movements and human rights.

The project promotes aesthetic diversity and social inclusiveness, bringing the community together to enjoy this San Francisco murals alley at their annual block party.

You can enter this collection of some of the best murals in San Francisco from either Mission or Valencia Street, just south of 17th Street. 

2. Balmy Alley

This San Francisco murals alley, called Balmy Alley, was actually the inspiration for the Clarion Alley Mural Project.

This public art space began in the 1970s as a way for the San Francisco murals artists to express their outrage about human rights issues in Central America at the time. 

This colorful street features more than a dozen San Francisco murals. They range from politically motivated messages to fun ones about the city.

This small alley sits between 24th and 25th Street just north of Garfield Square. Only visit during the day as there isn't enough lighting to see it well at night.

The picture above is one example of these famous murals in San Francisco's Mission District. It depicts a futuristic bus based on the 14-Mission Muni, one of the most used buses in this neighborhood.

3. 24th Street Corridor

Several blocks west and east of Balmy Alley, you'll find even more murals in San Francisco's Mission District, all along the 24th Street Corridor.

Make sure to check out this large collection of San Francisco street art as you explore this colorful and culturally diverse neighborhood.

You could start your self-guided mural tour from the west end of this stretch, near the 24th Street BART Station, and make your way east toward Balmy Alley.

There are a few notable alleyways that you can enter from the south side of 24th Street in this part of town.

Both Osage Street and Lilac Street run parallel to Mission Street, and a little farther east is Cypress Street.

As you head back out to the main avenue, you'll continue to find fantastic street art all the way to York Street, about five blocks past Balmy Alley.

4. Other Murals in SF's Mission District

Before you head out of the Mission District, which is full of San Francisco street art, check out these additional locations.

Many of them are commissioned by the property owner, so you will see changes over time. Here are some of my favorite examples:

• Women's Building - Near Clarion Alley, you will find the Women's Building. The entire three-story building is covered in artwork. You will find it at 3543 18th Street.
• Garfield Square Park - The south side of the pool house has a gorgeous mural. The address for this one is 1271 Treat Ave. 
• Leonard R. Flynn Elementary School - You will find some amazing work on the east and south sides of this school, located at 3125 Cesar Chavez Street.
• Precita Valley Community Center - There is a gorgeous mural at 534 Precita Avenue just east of Precita Park. 

>> Discover even more details and photos of the best Mission murals

Mission District Walking Tours

A great way to see the best murals in San Francisco is on a guided tour.

Tours are great for first-time visitors and anyone looking to delve deeper into the San Francisco murals' meaning and the local artists who created them.

Many will also give you the history of the neighborhood and a taste of the local food scene. 

Mission District Food & History Walking Tour

This is a great 3.5-hour tour about the district's food, culture, and history, including its murals. You will visit Mission San Francisco de Asis, one of the oldest buildings in SF, sample an array of treats from tacos to pastries, and visit Balmy Alley.

>> More details, including times and tickets

A Private Tour of San Francisco's Hip Melting Pot

This is one of the best private tours of the Mission District murals. You will spend 4 hours with a local guide who will take you from Clarion Alley to Balmy Alley and tell you all about the vibrant district in between. The tour requires at least two adults and is customizable. 

>> Find out more here

Free Walking Tours

You will also find some great, free, guided walking tours through SF City Guides, a program of the SF Public Library.

They offer expert tours by neighborhood or theme. The ones dedicated specifically to SF murals are in the Mission District, Coit Tower, and the Rincon Center (keep reading for more details on these additional spots). 

>> Learn more about these free tours here

5. Coit Tower

The first floor of Coit Tower houses a number of beautiful pieces created by artists commissioned under FDR's Federal Works of Art Project.

The San Francisco murals you find here are quite different from those in the Mission District. They feature stories about local life in the late 1920s and 1930s. 

Many of these famous murals in San Francisco were highly controversial at the time, as they are thought to be socialist-leaning, romanticizing workers and illustrating inequality. Others simply show Californians at play.

You can access the first-floor murals for free; however, buying an admission ticket gets you a mural tour as well as a top floor tour. Alternatively, if you take the free SF City Guides tour I described above, you will get access to additional murals not usually open to the public.

>> See more pictures and tips for visiting Coit Tower

6. San Francisco Beach Chalet

More San Francisco murals that you can visit for free are in the Beach Chalet building near Ocean Beach.

The entire first floor is covered with Works Progress Administration (WPA) era works, similar to those found in Coit Tower. However, these have more of a San Francisco focus, depicting familiar places such as Fisherman's Wharf, Baker Beach, Chinatown, and others.

While you are here, you can also grab some lunch or learn more about the top places to visit in Golden Gate Park. This building houses two restaurants and the Golden Gate Park Visitor's Center. 

7. Rincon Center

The former Rincon Annex post office in downtown San Francisco is in itself an architectural gem with its art deco details.

Not many people realize that it houses many San Francisco murals that were even more controversial than those in Coit Tower.

This historic building showcases 27 pieces of art along the top of the lobby that tell the history of San Francisco—from the Spanish conquest to the founding of the United Nations—without trying to mask its blemishes, including anti-Chinese riots and worker strikes.

Remarkably, these bold Social Realism murals of San Francisco's past were painted by Russian-born artist Anton Refregier in the 1940s, when people expected a more inspiring, patriotic tone.

This incited protests. They were also among the last federally funded art projects in SF. 

Unlike the other SF murals on this list, the Rincon Center murals have descriptions. This means you can learn more about the significance of each mural while walking through on your own, free of charge.

8. Chinatown

Over the years, more and more San Francisco murals have popped up around the Chinatown District. Some feature dragons and other elements of Chinese folklore, while others pay tribute to cultural icons like Bruce Lee.

One of my favorites is in the heart of the neighborhood at Sacramento and Grant. It's a piece with two lions and "Chinatown" written above it. 

There are great San Francisco murals at Grant and Clay Streets. Look around when you get here, as there are several great pieces of art at this intersection.

Then walk one more block up Grant to Washington for even more stunning San Francisco street art.

You'll also find great pieces at Stockton and Pacific (the 1,400-square-foot Ping Yuen mural), Grant and Commercial (of Bruce Lee), and Ross Alley and Washington (near the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory).

>> Learn more about visiting Chinatown

Tours of These Fun, Colorful Neighborhoods

9. North Beach

Next door to Chinatown, the historically Italian North Beach neighborhood is also home to some famous murals in San Francisco.

The picture above shows one of my favorites. The 1987 "Jazz" mural by Bill Weber covers the whole building on the corner of Columbus and Broadway.

Just a half block south are more of my favorites near the Vesuvio Cafe and City Lights Bookstore. Step into Jack Kerouac Alley to see a handful of colorful murals. 

>> Find out more about the famous North Beach district

10. Umbrella Alley in Fisherman's Wharf

One of the newer places to find street art in San Francisco is the Umbrella Alley in Fisherman's Wharf. Here you will find many Instagram-worthy interactive murals.

This alley used to be gray and boring. During the pandemic, the San Francisco Electric Tour Company turned this alley into one of the most vibrant celebrations of art and resilience in the city. 

It's shaded by a colorful mosaic of playful umbrellas and balloons. It's a small space, but a perfect spot to snap your San Francisco photos. 

You'll find Umbrella Alley across the street from the Hyde Street cable car turnaround next to the Buena Vista Cafe.

It costs $4 for adults and $2 for kids aged 12 to 17. They are open daily in the spring and summer, but check their website for fall and winter hours.

>> More fun things to see and do in Fisherman's Wharf

11. Lower Haight

This trendy neighborhood is known for its residential streets lined with Victorian homes, as well as the hip restaurants, cafes, and bars that are always popping up.

In recent years, it's also become a haven for artists, as there is so much colorful San Francisco street art gracing the buildings along the Haight Street corridor. 

You'll find beautiful work from about Haight and Pierce Street on the western end (where you'll find a gorgeous piece of Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai), to about Haight and Laguna Street on the eastern end (where you'll find several more).

At Haight and Fillmore, discover even more wonderful SF murals by heading north or south a block or so.

There's a little bit of everything represented in the art here, from San Francisco themes to prominent figures in music to more abstract fantastical images.

12. Grace Cathedral

Inside Grace Cathedral atop the Nob Hill district, you will find a number of stunning murals of San Francisco's past.

They were painted by Polish artist Jan Henryk de Rosen around 1950 and cover centuries of California history—from Sir Francis Drake's 1597 arrival on the coast, to the destruction of the original Grace Church in the 1906 earthquake and fire, to the 1945 founding of the United Nations. 

Apart from these impressive murals, Grace Cathedral boasts incredible stained-glass windows, two labyrinths, and several other rotating art installations and exhibitions. This church prides itself on embracing the arts as a channel for spirituality and for fostering human connection.

I highly recommend you stop by if you are in the neighborhood. Those coming for sightseeing do pay an admission fee, but there is so much to admire about this gem, it's worth it.

>> Learn more about visiting Grace Cathedral and its murals

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