Yes—but it has not closed yet. Ripley’s Believe It or Not at 175 Jefferson Street remains open as of September 25, 2026. The company announced on September 22 that the Fisherman’s Wharf attraction will close sometime before the end of 2026, but it has not set a final date. Ripley’s says it will announce that date once finalized. The museum opened in 1967 and has operated at the Wharf for nearly 60 years. (Ripley’s statement; CBS News)
Choose a Wharf stop to see its confirmed status and place in the route.
Fisherman’s Wharf 2026 Status Tracker
Ripley’s is open but closing before year-end; Raising Cane’s opened September 21. Pending projects are not dependable stops yet.
Open as of September 25 at 175 Jefferson Street. Closure is due before the end of 2026; the final day is unknown.
Route: Visit before continuing east to Alioto’s Plaza and Pier 39. If closed, keep that waterfront sequence and omit the museum.
Opened September 21 at 211 Jefferson Street.
Route: It follows Ripley’s in a west-to-east walk toward Pier 39.
Opened in September at Taylor and Jefferson streets, replacing the former restaurant site.
Route: Use it as a short outdoor pause between Ripley’s and Pier 39.
Operating at 333 Jefferson Street.
Route: It sits later in the eastbound Jefferson Street sequence.
Planned for 300 Jefferson Street with no firm opening date.
Route: Do not rely on it for a meal until an opening is confirmed.
Approved for the former Pompei’s Grotto space at 340 Jefferson Street.
Route: Leave it off a timed food plan until opening is confirmed.
Being revamped at 286 Jefferson Street without a dependable public reopening date.
Route: Treat the address as a project site, not a confirmed stop.
The cited September updates do not establish its current operating status.
Route: Check the venue directly before using it as a Ripley’s alternative.
The cited September updates do not establish its current operating status.
Route: Confirm directly rather than relying on an older Wharf itinerary.
Source note: Ripley’s, venue listings, the Port of San Francisco, CBS News and SFist; status checked September 25, 2026. Unverified venues are marked “Verify.”
Ripley’s Is Open for Visits Now
The closure announcement is not an immediate shutdown notice. Visitors can still go inside while the attraction continues operating, subject to its published schedule and any later update from Ripley’s.
The currently listed visitor details are:
- Address: 175 Jefferson Street
- Published hours: 11 a.m.–6 p.m. each day from September 24 through 30 on the official hours schedule
- Admission: $29.99 per person on the official ticket page, checked September 25
- Access: Ripley’s says the attraction is wheelchair accessible and has elevators and accessible restrooms in its accessibility information
Those hours establish the schedule only through September 30. The available information does not establish later operating hours, the final day, or whether the listed admission price will remain unchanged through closure.
Check the official Ripley’s attraction page on the morning of your visit. That is especially relevant for a trip later in 2026, when a saved itinerary could outlast the published schedule or the eventual closing-date announcement.
The practical decision depends on how central Ripley’s is to the day. If it is a priority, visit while it is confirmed open rather than assuming the attraction will last until December 31. “Before the end of 2026” does not establish that date as the final day. If Ripley’s is only a possible indoor stop, keep the rest of the waterfront route independent of it.
The Final Closing Date Is Still Unknown
Ripley’s has announced a closing window, not a closing day. Three separate points matter when planning:
- The Fisherman’s Wharf location was still operating on September 25.
- It is scheduled to close before the end of 2026.
- Ripley’s had not finalized or announced the exact date.
That means a visit in the immediate published-hours window can be planned against an official schedule. A visit later in the year cannot yet be treated the same way. The announcement supports neither a specific final weekend nor an assumption that normal hours will continue until the closure.
The company’s wording also applies to this San Francisco location. It does not establish the status of every Ripley’s attraction elsewhere. For a San Francisco itinerary, the relevant location is the museum at 175 Jefferson Street on the Fisherman’s Wharf corridor.
There is no announced replacement attraction in the cited information. The nearby openings and planned restaurants are signs of active turnover on Jefferson Street, but they are not like-for-like substitutes for an indoor oddities museum.
Jefferson Street Is Changing, Not Shutting Down
Ripley’s closure can look like a broader warning about Fisherman’s Wharf when viewed by itself. The current changes show a more mixed pattern: one long-running attraction is preparing to leave, recently opened businesses are serving visitors, a former restaurant site has become public space, and several restaurant projects remain pending.
Raising Cane’s Opened One Block Away
San Francisco’s first Raising Cane’s opened September 21 at 211 Jefferson Street, close to Ripley’s. Its official listing shows service from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday. (Raising Cane’s; SFist)
This is a newly opened food stop, not a replacement for the museum. Its later listed hours may make it easier to place after daytime waterfront attractions, while Ripley’s published September 24–30 schedule ends at 6 p.m.
Alioto’s Former Site Is Now a Plaza
The old Alioto’s restaurant building should no longer be used as a landmark in an older walking plan. Alioto’s Plaza opened in September at Taylor and Jefferson streets as part of the Port’s Fisherman’s Wharf Forward work. The site is now a plaza rather than the former restaurant building. (Port of San Francisco)
For routing, the plaza is a pause on the Jefferson Street corridor. It does not need to become a separate out-and-back detour, and it does not provide an indoor alternative if weather was the reason for choosing Ripley’s.
Taco Bell Cantina Is Operating Farther Along Jefferson
Taco Bell Cantina is open at 333 Jefferson Street. Its operating status is part of the recent mix of openings and planned projects reported around the Wharf. (SFist)
Visitors should distinguish it from the locations described as coming soon. An announced or approved restaurant is not interchangeable with one confirmed open for the day.
Three Restaurant Projects Are Not Yet Reliable Stops
Everett & Jones BBQ lists 300 Jefferson Street as a coming-soon location, but no firm opening date is available in the cited information. It should remain off a meal plan until the business confirms that it has opened.
Chasca Rio is planned for 340 Jefferson Street in the former Pompei’s Grotto space. The Port approved the Salvadoran restaurant for that location, but the available update does not establish that visitors can dine there yet. (Port of San Francisco)
Castagnola’s at 286 Jefferson Street is being revamped for a return. No dependable public reopening date is included in the available reporting. (SFist)
These projects belong in a watch list, not in a timed itinerary. Their street addresses can still appear in search results or older guides even when the businesses are not ready to receive visitors.
A West-To-East Route Avoids Backtracking
If you are walking from Ghirardelli Square toward Pier 39, keep moving east along the waterfront side of the neighborhood. Ripley’s at 175 Jefferson Street can be the indoor stop near the earlier part of that sequence. From there, continue toward the Taylor Street area and Alioto’s Plaza, then follow Jefferson toward Pier 39.
That order keeps the same west-to-east flow used in our Fisherman’s Wharf walking route. It also prevents the status of one attraction from determining the shape of the whole walk.
A workable sequence is:
- Begin on the Ghirardelli Square side of Fisherman’s Wharf.
- Visit Ripley’s at 175 Jefferson while it remains open.
- Continue past the newly opened Raising Cane’s at 211 Jefferson if it fits the meal plan.
- Pause at Alioto’s Plaza near Taylor and Jefferson streets.
- Continue along Jefferson rather than turning back for projects that have not opened.
- Finish toward Pier 39.
The higher Jefferson Street numbers listed for Castagnola’s, Everett & Jones, Taco Bell Cantina, and Chasca Rio place those stops or project sites later in this general progression. Only Taco Bell Cantina is confirmed open among those four in the cited status information. Castagnola’s, Everett & Jones, and Chasca Rio should not be treated as available stops yet.
Pier 45 and Pier 39 remain connected by the same Jefferson Street segment if Ripley’s closes before the visit. Removing the museum does not require rebuilding the waterfront route; it creates a gap in the schedule rather than a broken walking path.
Plan Ripley’s as the Indoor Anchor, Not the Route Anchor
In wet or windy conditions, Ripley’s can serve as the indoor centerpiece while it remains open. Alioto’s Plaza is better treated as a brief outdoor pause, not as weather cover or an equivalent attraction.
If the final closing date falls before your trip, remove Ripley’s but retain the west-to-east walk. The safest replacement is extra waterfront time along the existing line toward Pier 39, because that choice does not depend on an unconfirmed opening. The cited information does not establish a comparable nearby oddities museum as a direct substitute.
Musée Mécanique and Madame Tussauds may appear in broader Wharf planning, but their current operating status is not documented by the sources used here. The tracker therefore marks them for separate verification rather than inferring that they are open from their presence on older maps or itineraries.
For a trip before the final date is announced, place Ripley’s earlier in the day within its published hours and avoid attaching a nonrefundable or tightly timed plan to an assumed closing day. For a trip after September 30, first obtain a later official hours schedule. For any trip near the end of 2026, confirm both the daily hours and whether the San Francisco location is still operating.
The firm answer remains narrow: Ripley’s San Francisco is closing before the end of 2026, but it was still open on September 25, and no exact final date had been set.