10 Things to Do on Treasure Island, San Francisco
Every day, thousands of people cross the Bay Bridge and pass Treasure Island without a second glance. Most have no idea there’s a whiskey distillery out there, a waterfront restaurant ranked among the best in San Francisco, and skyline views that stop people cold the first time they see them.
Treasure Island sits in the middle of San Francisco Bay, halfway between the city and Oakland. It’s a 400-acre man-made island built in 1937 from mud dredged up from the Bay floor, originally constructed to host the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition.
Today it’s one of San Francisco’s most underrated neighborhoods, home to urban wineries, a working distillery, waterfront dining, and some of the best skyline views in the Bay Area. It also takes its name directly from Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel, which makes the whole thing feel exactly as dramatic as it sounds.
Dylan’s Tours has been connecting visitors to the city’s most iconic locations for 20+ years, from the Golden Gate Bridge and Muir Woods to Alcatraz and beyond. Find your perfect San Francisco tour today.
Robert Louis Stevenson and the Island Named After His Novel
The island takes its name directly from the 1883 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, and San Francisco’s connection to the story is genuine. Stevenson lived in the city in 1879 and 1880, and the Bay Area left a lasting mark on him.
First published as a book in 1883, Treasure Island is a coming-of-age story that follows Jim Hawkins, a young boy who discovers a secret map hidden in the belongings of an old seaman named Billy Bones at the Admiral Benbow Inn. The map leads to an expedition to the island aboard the Hispaniola, a ship departing from Bristol with a crew that includes the one-legged Long John Silver, the steadfast Captain Smollett, Dr. Livesey, and Squire Trelawney.
What follows is a story of mutiny, buried gold, and survival against a crew of pirates that includes Blind Pew and Israel Hands. Marooned on the island is Ben Gunn, a former member of Captain Flint’s crew who has spent years alone waiting for someone to come and find Flint’s buried treasure.
When planners needed a name for San Francisco’s new artificial island in the 1930s, Stevenson’s Treasure Island was the natural choice.
Begin Your Voyage: How to Get to Treasure Island
Your expedition to the island is straightforward from any direction.
The most scenic way is the Treasure Island Ferry, which runs daily between the SF Ferry Building (Gate B) and the Treasure Island Ferry Terminal. The crossing takes about 8 minutes and costs $5 one-way. Children under 5 ride free.
You can also drive directly onto the island from the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge via the Treasure Island Road exit at the midpoint of the bridge. Parking on the island is free.
If you prefer public transit, the SFMTA Muni 25 bus departs regularly from the Salesforce Transit Center at 425 Mission Street in downtown San Francisco.
Cyclists coming from the East Bay can access the island via the Bay Bridge Bicycle Path, though there is currently no direct bike access from San Francisco itself.
Here’s what’s waiting for you when you arrive:
1. Buccaneer Views: The San Francisco Skyline from Panorama Park
The views here are among the best in the Bay Area. Treasure Island sits directly across from San Francisco’s northern waterfront, and from Panorama Park on Treasure Island you get an unobstructed look at the entire city skyline from bridge to bridge. There are no crowds, no admission fees, and no competition for space.
It’s worth timing your visit for late afternoon. As the sun drops, the light catches the skyline and the water turns gold.
The Avenue of the Palms runs along this western waterfront and makes for one of the most photographed stretches on the island. Bring a blanket and takeout and stay for a while.
2. The Treasure Island Museum
The Treasure Island Museum is free to the public and covers three distinct chapters of the island’s history: the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, the island’s years as Naval Station Treasure Island, and its ongoing transformation into a new San Francisco neighborhood.
The 1939 World’s Fair exhibit is particularly worth your time. The Exposition was conceived as an Art Deco “Magic City” of towers, gardens, and dramatic lighting, built to celebrate California’s growing influence in the Pacific. The museum captures what that world looked like and what became of it.
Hours are weekdays 9 AM to 7 PM and weekends 11 AM to 7 PM, with closures on select holidays.
Want to explore more of San Francisco’s iconic museum scene? Our guide to the best museums in San Francisco has everything you need to plan your visit.
3. The Black Spot Never Tasted This Good: Gold Bar Distillery
Gold Bar Distillery and Tasting Room operates out of the island’s historic Pan Am terminal, the original headquarters for Pan American World Airways’ transpacific flying boat routes. The building itself is a piece of San Francisco history, and the distillery has leaned into that era with Art Deco interiors.
You can visit for a tasting or sign up for one of their cocktail classes, where you’ll learn to make three signature cocktails while learning about the island’s history. If the pirates in Stevenson’s novel ran on a bottle of rum, Gold Bar’s crew has considerably better taste.
Every Sunday, they host Sunset DJ Nights with resident DJ Marc Stokes spinning soulful house music as the sun goes down over the San Francisco skyline.
4. Have Dinner at Mersea
Mersea sits along the waterfront in a distinctive container-style building and has earned a consistent spot among the top-rated restaurants in San Francisco on TripAdvisor. The kitchen focuses on fresh, seasonal ingredients with a menu that changes regularly and a wine list that pairs well with the setting.
The views from the dining room are hard to beat. You’re sitting on the edge of San Francisco Bay with the city skyline directly across the water, and on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings the restaurant adds live music to the mix.
If you want to combine a meal with a reason to stay on the island past sunset, Mersea is the place to do it. Make a reservation before you go, especially on weekends.
Treasure Island shows you a side of San Francisco most visitors never see. Dylan’s Tours does the same, with expert local guides who know every neighborhood, viewpoint, and story the city has to offer.
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5. Pieces of Eight: The Urban Winery Scene
Treasure Island has built one of the more interesting wine cultures in the Bay Area. Several urban wineries operate here, sourcing grapes from premium California vineyards and producing small-batch wines on the island itself. Tasting rooms are open on weekends.
Treasure Island Wines is the island’s longest-running winery and a solid starting point. The team sources grapes from across California and pours them against a backdrop of open Bay views.
For most visitors, pairing a winery visit with the Gold Bar Distillery tasting makes for a strong case that Treasure Island is one of the better drink destinations in the Bay Area.
Enjoying Treasure Island’s wine scene? Napa and Sonoma are less than two hours away. Our Ultimate Wine Country day tour makes it an easy add-on to your San Francisco trip.
6. Watch the Sunset Over San Francisco Bay
Treasure Island is one of the best places in the Bay Area to watch the sun go down. The island’s west-facing waterfront puts you directly across from the San Francisco skyline with nothing between you and the view. As the light drops, the city catches the last of it before the Bay turns dark and the skyline lights up.
The Avenue of the Palms is the best stretch to be on for sunset. It runs along the western waterfront with open sightlines of both the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge. Bring a blanket, pick a spot on the grass, and plan to stay for at least an hour. The transition from golden hour to full dark with a lit skyline is worth waiting for.
If you time your visit to include dinner at Mersea, the restaurant sits right on this waterfront stretch and faces west. Arriving for an early dinner and staying through sunset is one of the better ways to spend an evening in San Francisco.
7. Explore Clipper Cove on Yerba Buena Island
Treasure Island connects directly to Yerba Buena Island, a natural island that sits just to the south, and it’s worth walking across to explore. Unlike Treasure Island, Yerba Buena is a natural landmass with wooded hillsides and significantly fewer people on any given day.
At the southern tip you’ll find Clipper Cove, a sheltered beach with calm water, soft sand, and views back toward the Bay Bridge. You can rest on the sand, wade in the shallows, or rent a paddleboard and get out on the water.
The cove is protected from Bay winds, which makes it noticeably warmer and calmer than the exposed waterfront on Treasure Island’s west side. It’s a quieter corner that most visitors don’t make it to, and the short walk across from Treasure Island takes less than ten minutes.
8. Ride the Bay Bridge Bike Path
If you’re coming from the East Bay, the Alexander Zuckermann Bike Path along the Bay Bridge is one of the most distinctive rides in the region. The path runs 2.2 miles from Oakland to Yerba Buena Island, and from there you can continue down Macalla Road onto Treasure Island.
Few bike rides in the region put you this close to the water with views in every direction. The path is well-maintained and separated from traffic, so the experience is more scenic than stressful.
A free shuttle van handles the uphill return trip from Treasure Island back to the Bay Bridge path, so the route is more accessible than it looks on a map. Bikes are also permitted on the Treasure Island Ferry if you’d rather ride one way and sail the other.
Want to bike more of the city? Browse our San Francisco bike tours and e-bike rentals for guided and self-guided options.
9. The Black Dog Is Welcome Here: The Off-Leash Dog Park
Treasure Island has a fully fenced off-leash dog park at the corner of Avenue of the Palms and 9th Street, and it’s one of the more scenic places in San Francisco to let a dog run free. The park sits along the island’s western waterfront with direct views of the San Francisco skyline across the Bay.
Most city dog parks trade views for space or space for views. This one has both. The enclosure is large enough that dogs can actually run, and the location means you’re getting one of the better waterfront vantage points on the island while they do it.
The park is free and open daily.
10. Stand Where San Francisco’s First Airport Once Was
Before SFO existed, Treasure Island was San Francisco’s international airport. Pan American Airways launched its famous China Clippers from Clipper Cove, the sheltered inlet between Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island, on routes to Hawaii, the Philippines, and Hong Kong.
The boarding ritual is worth knowing about. One bell meant the crew was boarding. Two bells meant passengers followed. The flying boats departed from what Pan Am called the Port of the Trade Winds, and for travelers of the era, it felt more like boarding an ocean liner than catching a flight.
The Pan Am terminal building still stands today, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s the same Art Deco building that now houses Gold Bar Distillery. When you walk in for a tasting, you’re standing in the original departure terminal. The Navy took over in 1942, the flying boats retired, and SFO eventually took shape south of the city. The building that was supposed to launch it all is still there.
Jim Hawkins Had the Right Idea: Plan Your Visit
Treasure Island rewards a full afternoon. Come for the views, stay for the whiskey, the wine, and the waterfront dinner. The ferry from the Ferry Building keeps the whole experience simple, and free parking on the island means driving is easy if you prefer it.
For most visitors, the combination of the Treasure Island Museum, Gold Bar Distillery, and dinner at Mersea covers most of what the island does best. Add a walk to Panorama Park for the skyline views and you’ve got an ideal way to spend the day in San Francisco.
More San Francisco Worth Exploring
Treasure Island is a great starting point, but San Francisco has a lot more to show you. Dylan’s Tours has been taking visitors to the city’s most iconic locations for over 20 years, from the towering redwoods of Muir Woods and the cell blocks of Alcatraz to the rolling vineyards of Napa and Sonoma. Every tour is led by our expert local guides who know the city’s history, neighborhoods, and stories inside out.
With 5,700+ five-star reviews and tours built for every schedule and group size, we take care of the logistics so you can focus on the experience. Whether you have a few hours or two full days in the city, there’s a tour built for you.
Browse our San Francisco tours and find your perfect day in the city.
