Depending on whom you ask, San Francisco is built on anywhere from seven hills to more than 48. But most can agree that the city’s second highest points are its most iconic: the aptly-named Twin Peaks.
These siblings share the same height — roughly 922 feet — but not the same name; “Eureka” belongs to the northern hill, and “Noe” to the south.
A cruise up Twin Peaks Boulevard via car or bike offers a straightforward, albeit windy, way to the top. But pedestrians and urban explorers have another heart-pumping option that allows you to stop and appreciate the views and access some hidden corners: take the stairs.
On foot, you can get to the top of Twin Peaks from any direction, but for this trek, we’re starting on the northeastern side. That’s because, in a town full of amazing neighborhood stairways, we want to share one of our all-time favorites: the Pemberton Steps.
On the way up to world-class vistas, we’ll encounter lovely pockets of gardens and architectural charm, and even find a few places for respite from sun and wind.
Instead of starting with the Pemberton Steps, however, we’re going to throw in a bonus set of stairs — a warmup or amuse-bouche to get you hungrier for the main course. Even better, it’ll tune up your sense of discovery right from the start, because it’s easy to miss the bottom of the Iron Alley stairs.
Unmarked steps
Iron Alley starts on Clayton Street, right where the 33-Ashbury Muni bus makes its dizzying switchback onto upper Market Street. (One of our favorite SF public transit moments!)
There’s no official sign marking the staircase; look between the lamppost with the “Market” sign and the fire hydrant for the wooden stairs.
On a clear day — as it was on this trek — it’s good to stop halfway up to take in a view that includes Corona Heights and the downtown skyline.
From here, you climb past bougainvillea — very much in bloom during our hike — and a Monterey pine before reaching the top of the staircase on Corbett Avenue. You could cross Corbett and continue on Iron Alley, a one-way passage to Graystone Terrace. But on this adventure we want to maximize stairs, so take a right on Corbett back to Clayton.
At the intersection, take a left on Clayton and follow the rose-colored wall with vines spilling over, to the opening of the Pemberton Steps.
As the dangling vines suggest, the Pemberton Steps are very lush: the side gardens are bursting with purple African lilies and sword ferns. The first landing provides a great view of a stately Norfolk Island pine tree across the street.
The Pemberton Steps have undergone various stages of rebuilding. The first set of even, same-height steps makes for a solid workout, as evidenced by several trampers who zipped past.
It doesn’t take long to lose the sounds of traffic as you head into a series of pocket gardens and well-maintained staircase beds that change as you gain height. All along the way, there are benches to take a load off, and enjoy the quiet, and check out the plants, starting with some sword and lady ferns.
Looming presence
About halfway up this first set of stairs, the steps widen out to an amphitheater-like landing. A small plaque on a drinking fountain honors Myra Breen Franklin for rebuilding the lower steps in the 1990s.
At Villa Terrace, one of the small streets that run more or less parallel along the side of Twin Peaks, the lush gardens give way to a pair of Japanese maples. They seem to stand sentry at the bottom of the next set of stairs, and the greenery changes scenery too — on this next set, taller hedges such as milkwort and Irish rose succulents dominate and the looming Sutro Tower first comes into view.
The third segment of Pemberton Steps continues across Graystone Terrace, another of the small parallel lanes. Watch your step, as they’re older, uneven, and cracked in places.
This last set leads fittingly to Crown Terrace, the top of the stairway climb that rewards you with gorgeous views. Not only is the downtown skyline visible, but you can also see around the Embarcadero to parts of the Giants’ ballpark in Mission Bay — or even across the Bay to the Port of Oakland’s cranes that inspired George Lucas’s Star Wars AT-ATs, and then beyond to Mount Diablo.
A handful of homes along Crown offer visual delights of their own. Enjoy some white stucco Mission style-homes and southwestern flare in the form of wooden balconies, chimney caps, and great metalwork, including a bannister with a Greek meander design at 54 Crown and an entry gate that resembles tree branches at 123 Crown.
While admiring the views and architecture, best not to linger. One person, seeing that I was consulting my phone (taking photos mostly), warned me there was no cell phone service in the neighborhood. I had all my bars, and I couldn’t help but notice the clear view of Sutro Tower and its 977 feet of steel that deliver clear signals for radio and wireless service.
Getting to the top
We’re not at the top yet, but we do get a brief break from stairs.
Take a right onto Crown Terrace and follow it until Twin Peaks Boulevard, across from Tank Hill. Go left around a hairpin turn to keep following the boulevard.
You’ll quickly come upon yet another small street, Raccoon Drive. A quick detour down Raccoon makes it clear that it hasn’t been paved in a long time. There’s practically an open ditch (where it’s easy to fall and slip down), and lots of crumbling asphalt.
At the end is an unwelcoming set of signs: “Tow-away zone” and “Private street (residents and their guests only).” Raccoon and the nearby Crown Court counterpart are a rare SF find, two of the city’s more than 200 stretches of private roads.
Turn around and head back to Twin Peaks Boulevard, go left to take the road to the top. Along the way, you get to see the geologic make up of these hills: formally “radiolarian ribbon chert,” part of the Franciscan Formation.
Follow Twin Peaks Boulevard up to Burnett Avenue. At this point, Twin Peaks is closed to cars all the way until you hit the sign for Christmas Tree Point Road. Follow it up for the summit of our hike: Christmas Tree Point, considered a third “peak.” This iconic spot offers majestic views of the city — 360-degree visibility if Karl the Fog is on vacation.
What goes up must come down, and it’s time to begin our descent, with a little more wandering on the way.
Keep walking around Christmas Tree Point road to reach the Twin Peaks Connector Trail. The small path crosses Twin Peaks Boulevard to lead you toward the Twin Peaks Reservoir. This holds up to 10.5 million gallons of water for SF’s emergency firefighting water system, which was built between 1909 and 1913.
Continue along the dirt path of the Connector Trail until the end, where it meets Marview Way just before it connects to Fairview Court, a small street that runs along one side of the land where the majestic Sutro Tower stands. This iconic landmark was once the tallest structure in all of the city — until the Salesforce Tower was completed in 2018.
On Fairview, chainlink fencing runs along the hill at the base of the tower, the better to corral the herd of goats eating dry brush and weeds on this hillside during our visit. Fairview is a dead end street, but there is yet another set of stairs at Fredela Lane, a passageway downhill to Clairview Court.
Once you come to Clairview, turn right. Follow Clairview around to Panorama Drive and turn right. As you take this way, you can catch glimpses of Sutro Tower looming overhead. This route takes you around the tower as Panorama intersects Dellbrook Avenue. Turn right on Dellbrook and follow around another face of Sutro Tower.
Eventually, you’ll pass La Avanzada Street, named for the mansion Adolph Gilbert Sutro, the grandson of former SF mayor Adolph Sutro, built on the family property on the peak. (In 1948, the family sold the mansion and the property to the American Broadcasting Company, which eventually formed a consortium with other local broadcast stations to build the tower.)
Just after La Avanzada, you’ll come to the crosswalk at Clarendon Avenue. Take the crosswalk as part of a right turn onto Clarendon and continue along the sidewalk where you’ll pass a small set of stairs behind an iron gate. These are the Stanyan Steps, a dead end passage that’s worth the short jaunt to check out a few small gardens and get a glimpse of parts of the Richmond and downtown.
Once you hike back up the steps, turn left onto Clarendon. This gets us back to Twin Peaks Boulevard, which we’ll take to a small summit-and-park combo: Tank Hill.
Shortly after the street turns into Twin Peaks Boulevard, there’s a small staircase to the left. You might catch the last of the late spring wildflowers, if you hurry — several varieties of poppy, including the iconic state flower, to enjoy as you climb.
At the top, we get a glimpse of the city’s western neighborhoods. Take it in before you head down the steps toward Belgrave Avenue. Turn and on to Shrader Street, where we see the “Angel of Hope,” a sculpture made from the trunk of a Monterey cypress damaged in a storm.
As we made our way down Schrader to Cole Street, we ran into welcoming signs made by kid sidewalk chalk artists. One featured hearts, a cat, and the message, “You shine.” Along Alma Street, just before Cole, another chalk artist wrote, “We love you!” How nice to feel welcome here at the end of our journey.
If you can spare a few more steps, explore the plethora of food and drink options on Cole. Pick from sushi, Middle Eastern, French, boozy floats, ice cream, and other sweet treats, all in a two-block stretch. There’s Woods brewery, or you can hit up the neighborhood mainstay Finnegans Wake. Five more blocks away, Haight Street offers even more with numerous choices for noshing, including noodles and Mexican.
How to get there
The Pemberton Steps and the Iron Alley stairs are accessible on the 33 Ashbury and 37 Corbett lines. If you want to bike, you can take Clayton Street all the way to the steps, but there are no bike racks. If you want to walk, you can walk from Cole Valley to Clayton Street to the Iron Alley stairs.
