Twin Peaks during the promenade work: how to reach Christmas Tree Point and what's closed

Twin Peaks is still one of San Francisco's best free views, but getting there works a little differently this year while the city builds a new promenade on the summit.

What's open, what's closed

Construction on the Twin Peaks Promenade began in May 2026, and Rec and Park said the project area would be closed for about nine months. The Crestline Trail is closed, and hikers coming from Crestline Drive are redirected north on a connector trail to Christmas Tree Point. The road to Christmas Tree Point and the overlook remain open, and so do the trails up Noe and Eureka peaks.

Drivers should come in through the gate off Portola Drive. The Burnett Avenue gate is closed to vehicles. Muni's 37 line stops along Crestline Drive and the 48 along Portola.

The promenade

The $3.2 million project turns a stretch of Twin Peaks Boulevard that has been closed to cars since 2020 into a linear park with two parallel paths: one paved for strollers, wheelchairs, bikes and scooters, and one of natural tread for walking and jogging. It adds seating, overlooks, bike racks and native plants. Funding comes from the 2020 Health and Safety Bond, two state parks grant programs and the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council, according to Rec and Park.

The peaks themselves

At 922 feet, Twin Peaks is second in height only to Mount Davidson, Rec and Park says. The park covers 64 acres of grassland and coastal scrub, and a 0.7-mile trail network climbs both summits for 360-degree views that beat the north peak overlook. Early Spanish settlers called the two peaks "Los Pechos de la Choca." Wikipedia notes that the peaks block summer fog from the eastern neighborhoods and that in February 1976 they got several inches of snow.

A rare butterfly

Twin Peaks is the only place in San Francisco where the endangered mission blue butterfly has survived. In 2009, 22 pregnant females were released there, according to Rec and Park. Look for the light-blue, quarter-sized butterfly in the rocky grasslands, where it depends on three native lupine species, and stay on trails to avoid poison oak and erosion.