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1
Filbert Steps
About 400 steps up the quarried east face of Telegraph Hill, through a garden one woman planted over 33 years.
Start at Coit Tower and walk down rather than up, and keep your voice down, because this stairway is the front path for the houses on Napier Lane.
Filbert St at Sansome St, San Francisco, CA 94133 Full write-up → -
2
16th Avenue Tiled Steps
A 163-step mosaic staircase in the Inner Sunset that runs sea-to-sky, leading up to Grandview Park.
163 steps covered in more than 2,000 handmade tiles and roughly 75,000 glass fragments. The sea-to-sky mosaic is best viewed from below looking up.
Moraga St between 15th & 16th Ave, San Francisco, CA 94122 Full write-up → -
3
Greenwich Steps
A 280 foot climb up Telegraph Hill, part concrete and part brick, one block north of the Filbert Steps.
Walk these down rather than up, and look carefully for the lower entrance, because it is easy to miss from Sansome Street.
Greenwich St at Sansome St, San Francisco, CA 94133 Full write-up → -
4
Hidden Garden Steps
148 mosaic steps on 16th Avenue, and the quieter of the two tiled staircases in this part of the city.
Walk up from Kirkham so the mosaic reads the right way round, and come at midday because the tiles need direct sun to do anything.
16th Ave between Kirkham St and Lawton St, San Francisco, CA 94122 Full write-up → -
5
Pemberton Place Steps
Roughly 194 steps in three flights up the east side of Twin Peaks, lined with gardens the residents tend themselves.
Go up in the late afternoon and carry on to Tank Hill for sunset, which turns it into about a one mile walk.
Pemberton Pl at Clayton St, San Francisco, CA 94131 Full write-up → -
6
Lincoln Park Steps
Mosaic-tiled staircase at the end of California Street climbing to Lincoln Park and the Legion of Honor. Fewer crowds than the 16th Avenue Steps, with ocean views at the top.
End of California St at 32nd Ave, Outer Richmond Full write-up → -
7
Harry Street Steps
A wooden stairway through the trees in Glen Park, and the only way home for several houses on it.
Climb up from Laidley Street and keep the landings clear, because four households carry their shopping up these steps.
Harry St at Laidley St, San Francisco, CA 94131 Full write-up → -
8
Vermont Street
Potrero Hill's Vermont Street has seven switchbacks between 20th and 22nd Streets. Site of the annual Bring Your Own Big Wheel race every Easter Sunday.
Questa è la vera strada più ripida di San Francisco
Vermont St between 20th and 22nd Sts, Potrero Hill Full write-up → -
9
Urban Hike: Stairways of San Francisco
San Francisco has hundreds of public stairways climbing its hillsides. Filbert Steps to Coit Tower, the 16th Avenue Tiled Steps, the Lyon Street Steps, and dozens more, often lined with garden plantings.
Hit the Filbert Steps early when the wild parrots are out, then save the Tiled Steps for the climb back up.
Last updated August 18, 2026
