San Fierro

Updated 28 October 2026 · Fan site. Not affiliated with Rockstar Games or Take-Two Interactive.

San Fierro is the fictional version of San Francisco in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004). It is the second city Carl Johnson unlocks, after Los Santos. The 1997 game had an earlier San Francisco-style city simply called San Andreas. In the HD era San Fierro is only mentioned, never shown.

What is San Fierro based on?

San Fierro is San Francisco. Its districts and landmarks track the real city closely. The Gant Bridge copies the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Garver Bridge stands in for the Bay Bridge. Cable cars climb the hills. GTA Wiki traces the name to San Francisco's old motto, which pairs gold in peace with iron in war. Fierro is an old Spanish word for iron.

Before San Fierro: the 1997 city of San Andreas

The original Grand Theft Auto (1997) already had a San Francisco city, but it was called San Andreas. It was the second of three cities, a top-down map of fifteen districts plus a docks island. When the 2004 game turned San Andreas into the name of a whole state, the city got a new name. GTA Wiki notes that the 1997 version is laid out less faithfully and even faces the wrong direction.

San Fierro in the 3D era (GTA San Andreas)

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas came out on 26 October 2004 and is set in 1992. San Fierro is on a peninsula on the west side of the state. GTA Wiki describes it as the smallest of the three cities by area and the second largest by population. Mount Chiliad and the town of Angel Pine lie to the south. Across the Gant Bridge to the north are Bayside and the rural county of Tierra Robada.

Its districts mirror real neighbourhoods. Downtown matches the Financial District. Hashbury stands in for Haight-Ashbury, Garcia for the Mission, Queens for the Castro, and Doherty for Dogpatch. Easter Bay Airport plays the part of San Francisco International. A collapsed section of freeway near the Garver Bridge looks like a reference to the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

What happens in San Fierro in GTA San Andreas?

After the betrayal in Los Santos, Carl Johnson ends up in the San Fierro area. According to Wikipedia, he wins a garage in a street race and turns it into a chop shop. He also takes on the Loco Syndicate, a criminal group based in the city, and starts working with the blind Triad leader Wu Zi Mu. That partnership later takes him to Las Venturas. GTA Wiki lists The Green Sabre, the mission with the Los Santos betrayal, as the one that unlocks the city.

Is San Fierro in GTA V?

No. GTA V only shows southern San Andreas: Los Santos and Blaine County. In the HD era San Fierro exists only in mentions. In The Lost and Damned, the rival Angels of Death biker club is said to have been founded there. The Ballad of Gay Tony carves its name into a lobby wall with other series cities. In GTA Online, an arcade game shows the city and its bridge.