San Bruno

San Bruno is the city most travelers see only from the air. It climbs the hills just west of San Francisco International Airport, between South San Francisco and Millbrae. Its flat eastern side is a jumble of freeway ramps, rail lines and runway approaches. About 44,000 people live here, many in tidy postwar neighborhoods on the slopes. YouTube has its headquarters in town.

For a Palo Alto resident, San Bruno is useful and surprisingly interesting. It has its own Caltrain and BART stations, a ridge hike to the place where Spanish soldiers first saw the bay, a big county park and the site of Tanforan, a racetrack that became a detention camp for Japanese American families in 1942. This guide covers the trip up, the town's story, the outdoors and how to spend a few hours.

Where San Bruno is and how far

San Bruno sits in northern San Mateo County, about 12 miles south of downtown San Francisco. The city covers about 5.5 square miles. It runs from the lowlands near the bay up into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, which top 700 feet in the Portola Highlands. Golden Gate National Cemetery lies inside the city limits along Interstate 280. Just west of Skyline Boulevard, outside the city, is San Andreas Lake, the reservoir that gave the San Andreas Fault its name.

From downtown Palo Alto it is about 22 miles. Outside rush hour, the drive takes 25 to 30 minutes on Highway 101 or Interstate 280.

Getting there from Palo Alto

By car

Highway 101 is fastest for the bay side of town, the Tanforan site and the San Bruno Avenue exit to downtown. Interstate 280 is the calmer drive and puts you closer to the hills, Sneath Lane and the cemetery. Interstate 380 links the two freeways through the middle of the city.

By Caltrain

San Bruno station is at 833 San Mateo Avenue, raised above the corner of San Mateo and San Bruno avenues at the edge of downtown. The elevated station opened in 2014 to replace street-level crossings. A stop has stood near this spot since the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad began service on October 18, 1863. Caltrain puts San Bruno in zone 1 and Palo Alto in zone 3, a three-zone fare: $8.50 in October 2026 and $9.00 from January 1, 2027. Not every train stops at San Bruno, so check the timetable. Our Caltrain guide explains tickets and Clipper.

By BART

San Bruno's BART station opened in 2003 with the extension to SFO and Millbrae. It sits beside the Tanforan site and a bus transfer area. From Palo Alto, ride Caltrain to Millbrae, where Caltrain and BART share a station. Then take BART one stop north. SamTrans also runs its ECR route along El Camino Real between Palo Alto and Daly City through San Bruno, a slow but cheap option.

From Urebure to a railroad town

Before the Spanish arrived, this was the site of an Ohlone village called Urebure. The Portola expedition passed through in November 1769. Later Spanish explorers named San Bruno Creek after St. Bruno of Cologne, founder of the Carthusian order. The creek eventually gave its name to the town. After the missions declined, the land became part of Rancho Buri Buri, granted to the Sanchez family. Dairy farms followed.

The town grew around a roadhouse built in 1849 on the old road south from San Francisco. It was known over the years as Thorp's Place, Uncle Tom's Cabin and the 14 Mile House. It stood until 1949. The railroad arrived in 1863 and a post office in 1875. Pushed by the local paper, the San Bruno Herald, residents voted to incorporate in 1914, mainly so the streets could be paved.

Two famous events happened at Tanforan before the war. On January 18, 1911, the aviator Eugene Ely took off from the racetrack and landed on the armored cruiser USS Pennsylvania in the bay, the first landing of an airplane on a ship. Seabiscuit and Citation both raced there later. In 1939 the War Department opened Golden Gate National Cemetery because the Presidio was running out of room.

After the war, new tracts filled Mills Park, Rollingwood and Crestmoor. Highway 101 opened through town in 1947. San Bruno annexed Lomita Park in 1953. When it eyed land toward the ocean in the 1950s, the coastal communities incorporated on their own as Pacifica in 1957.

Tanforan: racetrack, detention camp, mall

Tanforan Racetrack opened in 1899. In April 1942, after Executive Order 9066, the Army's civil control agency took over the track as a temporary assembly center. Japanese American families from San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa and San Mateo counties began arriving on April 28. Many lived in converted horse stalls. The population peaked at 7,816 on July 25, at a time when San Bruno itself had about 6,500 residents. About 1,600 of the detainees were children. The camp closed on October 13, 1942. Most people were sent on to the Topaz camp in Utah.

The track closed in 1964 and burned on July 31 of that year. A shopping mall rose on the site. Nearby streets were named for racehorses. A memorial statue and plaza honoring the people held at Tanforan was planned beside the San Bruno BART station for completion in 2022. Our page on Palo Alto's Japanese American community tells how the same orders reached families here.

The mall's own future is changing. Alexandria Real Estate Equities plans to replace most of The Shops at Tanforan with at least 1,000 homes, a 377,000-square-foot retail village and life science buildings. Target and the movie theater buildings were slated to remain. JCPenney closed in 2025 and Barnes and Noble announced its closing in early 2026. Demolition could begin in mid-2026 at the earliest, so check what is open before planning a shopping stop.

Parks and the bay discovery site

Sweeney Ridge

The best walk in San Bruno starts at the end of Sneath Lane, west of Interstate 280. A paved service road climbs Sweeney Ridge in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Near the top is the San Francisco Bay Discovery Site, where members of the Portola expedition became the first Europeans known to see the bay in November 1769. On a clear day you can see the ocean, the bay and Mount Diablo. Expect fog and steady wind. Our hiking guide lists similar ridge walks closer to home.

Junipero Serra County Park

This county park covers about 100 acres of oak and grass slopes in the hills above El Camino Real. It has short trails, picnic shelters and barbecue pits. It is named for the Franciscan friar who passed through on his way to Mission San Francisco de Asis. San Mateo County charges a $6 vehicle day use fee in 2026.

City parks

San Bruno City Park, near downtown, is the main city park, with playgrounds, ball fields and picnic areas. The neighborhoods in the hills have canyons and ravines with small creeks, many now in culverts.

The 2010 pipeline explosion

On September 9, 2010, at about 6:15 p.m., a natural gas transmission line ruptured under the Crestmoor neighborhood. The fire killed eight people, injured nearly 60, destroyed 38 homes and damaged 123 more. It became a turning point for pipeline safety rules in California. The neighborhood has since been rebuilt. Visitors who come to the area should keep in mind that it is a residential street with a painful memory.

Downtown, food and everyday stops

San Mateo Avenue is San Bruno's old main street, running south from the Caltrain station. It has an older, unpolished feel, with family restaurants, bakeries and small shops serving a mixed community. Many of the cuisines found across northern San Mateo County show up here, from Mexican and Central American food to Chinese, Filipino and Japanese places. El Camino Real and the Bayhill shopping area near San Bruno Avenue add chain restaurants and groceries.

Skyline College, part of the San Mateo County Community College District, sits on the ridge at the western edge of town. YouTube's headquarters campus is near Cherry Avenue and is not open to the public.

Why a Palo Alto resident might go

1. Early flights. San Bruno is minutes from SFO. If you have a dawn departure, you can compare hotels near SFO. Our SFO guide covers the airport.
2. A history visit. The Tanforan story is one of the region's most important. The BART station makes the site easy to reach.
3. A ridge hike with a view. Sweeney Ridge pairs a real workout with a landmark of California history.
4. A transit hub. With Caltrain, BART and SamTrans all in town, San Bruno is a handy stop on the way to San Francisco or the East Bay.

Frequently asked questions