From the fault line at Mussel Rock to the biotech marina at Oyster Point, a half-day drive across the corridor south of the county line — where a burial ban filled a necropolis, earthquake refugees founded a city, and “The Industrial City” became the birthplace of biotechnology without ever taking down its old hillside sign. Narration plays on its own as you reach each stop — the screen is for your passenger or the parking lot, never the driver. Some stops are places to park and get out; others are narrated as you drive past, marked “drive-by,” so you're never hunting for parking that isn't needed.
🚗 Driving? The narration plays on its own as you reach each stop, so keep your eyes on the road — the screen is for your passenger or the parking lot, never the driver.
The route, in order
- Mussel Rock Park Stop — where the San Andreas fault walks into the sea, and a capped dump on top of it became a world-class paraglider launch.
- Skyline Drive — Little Boxes Drive-by — the hillside of near-identical houses that gave the world “Little Boxes.”
- Westlake Shopping Center Drive-by — the instant suburb got its own downtown, still anchored by Original Joe's.
- Top of the Hill Stop — where 1906 refugees dragged their earthquake shacks onto a dairy ranch, and founded the most Filipino-American city in the country.
- Colma — Colma Historical Association Stop (exterior only) — the town of 1,500 living and 1.5 million dead, where San Francisco sent the graves it evicted.
- San Bruno Mountain State & County Park Stop — park at the summit lot for a 360° panorama of the city, bay, and ocean, on the mountain developers wanted to dump into the bay, saved by the first Habitat Conservation Plan in the country and a small blue butterfly.
- Cow Palace Drive-by — the big-event overflow room San Francisco never built for itself: Beatles, Goldwater, and the rodeo, all at the edge of town.
- Sign Hill Stop (view from below) — “SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO THE INDUSTRIAL CITY,” the boast that outlived the smokestacks and became a landmark.
- Grand Avenue Historic Downtown Stop — the main street of the company town the “Beef Trust” built, now feeding a workforce that pipettes instead of packs.
- Genentech Drive-by — two men, a beer, and a bacterium: where “The Industrial City” became “The Birthplace of Biotechnology.”
- Oyster Point Marina Park Stop (finale) — a capped garbage dump turned marina, ringed by biotech towers, under the flight path.
How it works
- Passenger or parked — never the driver. Narration plays itself as you reach each stop, hands-free. Some stops you park and get out; others are narrated as you drive past, marked “drive-by,” so you're never hunting for parking that isn't needed.
- Follows your GPS. Each stop's narration cues itself as you pass it — no tapping through a list.
- Works offline on the go. Once this page has loaded, the whole tour keeps running without a signal.
- Nothing to install. It's a website, not an app — add it to your home screen if you'd like a shortcut.
Book a nearby experience
Make a day of it — tours and sights around San Francisco and the Peninsula are bookable ahead.
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