Exploratorium

About

The Exploratorium fills Pier 15 on the San Francisco waterfront, between Pier 39 and the Ferry Building. It is a science museum built around doing things: more than 650 exhibits let you blow giant bubbles, walk through fog, play with light and sound, and poke at how things work. Adults tend to get as absorbed as the kids, and a half day goes quickly.

The Tactile Dome is a separate ticketed experience inside the museum, a dark maze of textures you move through by touch alone. Sessions run on the hour through the day and need a reservation. The Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery on the second floor looks out over the bay, and the outdoor spaces along the pier are free to wander.

In 2026 the museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m., with Sunday mornings reserved for members. It is closed Mondays. Thursday evenings from 6 to 10 p.m. are After Dark, for ages 18 and up. Adult daytime tickets cost $39.95. Youth 4 to 17, seniors, students, teachers and people with disabilities pay $29.95, and children 3 and under are free. A Tactile Dome ticket is $15.95. Always check the special hours page first, because hours change on some dates.

The Tinkering Table Restaurant and Catalyst Coffee Lab are inside. The Muni F Market streetcar stops in front of the pier, Embarcadero BART station is a 10 to 15 minute walk along the water, and ferries land at the Ferry Building about 10 minutes away. The Pier 15 lot is run by a private operator and offers a discount code on the museum's website, and metered parking runs along the Embarcadero.

Accessibility

The Exploratorium is wheelchair accessible. The museum says every space is navigable by visitors using wheelchairs or other mobility devices, and all public entrances and exits have automatic door openers.

Holders of a disabled person parking placard can park free at street meters nearby. A white-curbed loading zone on the Embarcadero, just south of the museum, is the place for drop-off and pick-up. The F Market streetcar stops in front of Pier 15, and Muni and BART both publish their own accessibility information.

Inside, an elevator reaches the Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery on the second floor, and a wheelchair lift serves the Kanbar Forum. A limited number of wheelchairs are free to borrow at the Information Desk if you leave an ID as a deposit. Benches are spread through the building. Staff in vests can help you work an exhibit. All-gender restrooms are in the Crossroads and Moore Gallery 4, and every restroom has a changing table.

The Tactile Dome is only partly accessible. Its first room takes a wheelchair, but the full route requires enough upper-body strength to crawl, climb and slide. Service animals may wait in the Dome lobby but cannot go through.

For visitors who are deaf or hard of hearing, the museum guarantees an ASL interpreter with a week's notice at (415) 528-4407, and the Kanbar Forum has assistive listening systems. Tactile maps are at the Information Desk for visitors who are blind or have low vision.

The museum is busy and loud in places. Its sensory map marks quieter areas, including the Atrium, Moore Gallery 4 and the Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery and Terrace. Weighted lap pads and sensory kits with ear protectors are free to borrow. Crowds usually thin after 3 p.m., and a hand stamp lets you step outside and come back. Visitors with disabilities pay a reduced rate, and an accompanying aide gets in free.

Checked by Accessible America, September 2026. Report a change

More accessible places in California

• California Academy of Sciences (San Francisco)
• Golden Gate Bridge / Alcatraz (San Francisco)
• Pier 39 (San Francisco)
• Griffith Observatory (Los Angeles)
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) (Los Angeles)
• San Diego Zoo (San Diego)

Photo credits

• The arched concrete facade of Pier 15 with Exploratorium banners beside the glass entrance doors.: Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net)., CC BY-SA 4.0 (source)
• The paved plaza and dark metal building at the Exploratorium entrance on Pier 15.: Benoît Prieur, CC0 (source)
• Fog drifts along the flat outdoor walkway on the Exploratorium pier, with the bay on one side.: Fabrice Florin, CC BY-SA 4.0 (source)