Perhaps Lucy Perdichizzi and her troupe of trekkers will submit a nice piece on their adventure for the Guidepost.
By Peter Hartlaub, Culture Critic May 29, 2024 - San Francisco Chronicle
The Crosstown Trail, a citizen-designed 17-mile urban trail through San Francisco, turns 5 years old this week, and organizers are giving local walkers and hikers the ultimate gift:
Crosstown Trail leaders have adopted a new Double Cross Trail, which traverses the city from southwest to northeast and pairs with the original trail to make an “X” across San Francisco.
To celebrate the new route, and the original path’s fifth anniversary, Crosstown Trail organizers have scheduled 16 walks in June, many of which combine the two trails — including a BART-friendly hike and a pub crawl. Most of the guided walks are free with a suggested $10 donation.
Organizers said the Double Cross was created during the COVID-19 shutdown by West Portal hikers Arnie Thompson, John Trevithick and Chris Rupright, who decided to scout a new 14-mile city-spanning trek. The route starts at Fort Funston along the Pacific Coast and passes through West Portal, Stern Grove, Twin Peaks, Tank Hill, Chinatown and Coit Tower before finishing at Pier 23.
“We embraced it from the beginning,” said Crosstown Trail founder Bob Siegel. “It doesn’t have as many open spaces, but there are some, and they’re good ones. It has some of the most beautiful staircases: Adah’s Stairway and Greenwich (Steps). People will see so many things they’ve never seen before.”
The Crosstown Trail has been a sensation since its June 3, 2019, opening, hailed as a triumph of grassroots activism. Stretching from Candlestick Point to Lands End, it was created by a band of citizens that included retirees, young tech workers, slow-walkers and mountain bikers — who bypassed government bureaucracy, worked the trails by hand, built a smart digital interface and had it all done in 18 months.
Since then, thousands of walkers, hikers and cyclists have enjoyed their work; it’s rated on AllTrails.com as the best hike in San Francisco. But even as it quickly became the rare completely uncontroversial San Francisco institution, Crosstown Trail founders were open to new adventures.
So, they’ve updated the original route, now called the “new improved” Crosstown Trail, with three tweaks.
‘X’ marks the Crosstown Trail: Ultimate San Francisco hike adds new route
Greg