Who doesn’t like the beauty of Fall? And here in San Francisco Bay Area we can have the benefits of Fall colors minus all the rains that accompany the season in other parts of the country.

California does not necessarily have the same famous Fall foliage displays as New England, for instance. But you can definitely find fall colors in Bay Area if you know what and where to look. It is like a scavenger hunt of sorts – the harder the search, the sweeter the prize

First of all, before you embark on your fall foliage walk or drive you need to know WHAT you are looking for.

The trees that produce the most stunning fall colors in Bay Area are:

Japanese maples (not to confuse with Canadian variety which we don’t have in and around San Francisco) that produce “50 shades of red”.

Gingko Biloba  – this is a Asian tree as well that display fabulous gold colors

Fruit trees – pears (red color), persimmons (yellow)

Oaks (but not the California native ones because lots of those are evergreen) – you will be looking for Northern Red Oak (for the color red)

Now that you know what you are looking for, let’s talk about locations of fall colors of Bay Area or the “WHERE”.

The best spots where to see fall foliage in San Francisco Bay Area

Fall Colors in Bay Area #1: Japanese Gardens

For Japanese maples go to any Japanese botanical “feature”. Japanese maples are usually a staple in Japanese gardens. Did you know that there are 4 major Japanese gardens in San Francisco Bay Area? They are:

Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco Golden Gate Park

Japanese Friendship Garden in San Jose

Japanese Garden in San Mateo City Park

Japanese Gardens in Hayward

Some of these gardens (in San Mateo, San Jose and Hayward) have free admission which is perfect for your budget friendly fall adventure.

By the way, if you like FREE botanical gardens, please, check out my article Free Botanical Gardens in Bay Area.

Hakone Estate and Gardens

Check out Hakone Estate and Gardens in Saratoga. It is more than just a garden, it also has buildings and a cultural center on site. It has paid admission similar to Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco but it is very beautiful and definitely worth a visit.

Fall Colors in Bay Area #2: Golden Gingko Locations

There are no specific botanical gardens in Bay Area that focus on Gingko but there are several areas that I know of in Bay Area where they were planted in some concentration so you can see a pretty display of fall colors. Some of these locations are, surprisingly, close to office building rather than parks where people typically spend their leisure time and take a stroll so it is easy to miss them unless you go to work in these parts of Bay Area. These locations are:

Oyster Point in South San Francisco

Page Mill Road in Palo Alto between Hanover St. and Porter Dr.

Twin Pines Park in Belmont is the only park location that I know of with a couple of gorgeous Gingko trees.

If you know any other spots with a concentration of golden Gingko trees, please, let me know in the comments to the article – I would love to check them out and we thus can keep this directory growing through crowd sourcing and becoming even more useful to people.

Fall Colors in Bay Area #3: Washington Park Oaks

Washington Park in Burlingame is not big but it has several gorgeous red oaks that look like fire balls in the fall. It should definitely be on your list of great displays of fall colors in Bay Area

Fall Colors in Bay Area #4: Multiple Tree Species Locations

San Francisco Botanical Garden

San Francisco Botanical Garden has several trees that have wonderful fall foliage: maples, gingko and others. You can’t go wrong visiting it search of fall colors in Bay Area. Pictures below is a pond at the San Francisco Botanical Garden covered by fall foliage – it almost looks like Monet painting, doesn’t it?

Filoli Estate and Gardens

The same as San Francisco Botanical Gardens, Filoli in San Carlos has several species of trees with gorgeous fall foliage. Mostly maples and fruit trees.

Filoli is the only place in Bay Area that has a great concentration of fruit trees because they have them not only in the garden itself but also in a big fruit orchard. Pears will give you the best color displays.

To see my detailed report of fall colors at Filoli, check out this video:

Residential Streets

I am typically the most excited to discover fall color on residential streets in Bay Area because it feels more of an exciting surprise rather than going to a botanical garden where it is all pre-planed and you know exactly what you are going to find.

My favorite residential locations with fall colors in Bay Area are:

1. Palo Alto, near the Museum of American Heritage (pictured below). Overall, Palo Alto is famous for its fall foliage displays – checkout this detailed guide for fall colors in Palo Alto put together by a local arborist.

2. San Mateo: Alameda de Las Pulgas Street

3. Two streets in San Jose are famous for their fall colors: Monterey Rd. and Santa Theresa Boulevard.

4. Alameda: Windsor Drive

5. Los Gatos: Howe Drive

Fall Colors in Bay Area #5: State Parks and Nature Preserves

Several local state parks and nature preserves are famous for beautiful fall colors in Bay Area:

Rancho San Antonio in Cupertino has oaks and persimmons and other trees with fall foliage so it makes for a beautiful rural hike. I am planning to check it out in person shortly – it sounds really exciting.

Samuel P. Taylor State Park in Marin – here you can see fall colors along the Sir Francis Drake Drive. But please, cruise along, do not block the road for traffic.

Tilden Regional Park in East Bay – check out Wildcat Creek Trail.

When To See Fall Colors In Bay Area

Fall colors season in Bay Area actually happen later than in the East of Midwest regions of the United States. I would say the peak season for fall foliage in Bay Area is in November and sometimes it lasts through December, depending on the weather (rain and wind will tear those beautiful leaves off, sadly).

I hope you will enjoy your Fall walks in Bay Area. If you found this article useful please, share it with others as it may help them in their travel plans too.

If you like Fall and all the beauty, goodness and deliciousness that it brings, you may find the following articles helpful:

Things to Do in SLO County in the Fall

Things to Do in Apple Hill in the Fall

Happy Travels!

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