San Francisco is defined by its hills. There are 43 of them, and the city was built on, around, and because of them. For a century, residents needed a way to move between these hills on foot — not just down the street but across contours, through gardens, past retaining walls, and up faces too steep to pave. The solution was staircases: hundreds of them, running through back gardens and between houses and up cliff faces and along hidden corridors that no map quite captures.
There are over 400 public stairways in San Francisco. Almost all of them are free, public, and accessible year-round. Very few have signs pointing to them. Here are the ones every visitor should know.
## Filbert Steps (Telegraph Hill)
This is the most famous staircase in San Francisco and one of the most remarkable urban hiking paths in any American city. The Filbert Steps climb the east face of Telegraph Hill from Sansome Street at the bottom to Telegraph Hill Boulevard and Coit Tower at the top — a vertical rise of about 275 feet.
What makes Filbert magical is the middle section: a narrow wooden boardwalk that passes through a dense, almost tropical garden maintained by neighborhood residents. Wild parrots (a famous flock of cherry-headed conures that has lived on Telegraph Hill since the 1990s) roost in the trees here. The gardens are immaculate and entirely volunteer-maintained. Some of the houses tucked into the hillside along the steps can only be reached by this path — they have no car access at all.
The views from the top, at the base of Coit Tower, take in the entire northern waterfront, Alcatraz, Angel Island, and the Marin Headlands across the bay. Coit Tower itself is worth ascending for the 360-degree panorama and the WPA murals inside (the murals are free to view in the lobby).
Practical note: The stairs are steep and numerous. Allow 20–30 minutes up from the bottom and plan to catch your breath. Worth every step.
Nearest MUNI stop: The 8 and 39 lines serve Telegraph Hill. Or walk from Embarcadero BART (~15 minutes north along the waterfront).
## Lyon Street Steps (Pacific Heights)
The Lyon Street Steps run up the edge of Pacific Heights between Broadway and Green Streets — a manicured, formal staircase flanked by hedgerows, with Italianate mansions on both sides and a clear line of sight from top to bottom all the way to the Palace of Fine Arts dome and the Bay.
This is where local fitness culture visibly concentrates: you'll see SF residents doing stair repeats here at almost any hour of the day. The steps are wide, well-maintained, and the view from the top — down the long garden corridor with the Bay in the distance — is one of the best in the city.
The neighborhood around the top of Lyon Street is Pacific Heights at its most architecturally extravagant. The mansions along Broadway and Vallejo here include some of the most valuable residential real estate in the country. Worth a slow walk around.
## 16th Avenue Tiled Steps (Inner Sunset)
In the Inner Sunset neighborhood, the 16th Avenue Tiled Steps climb the face of Grandview Park between Moraga and Noriega Streets. The steps themselves are covered in a 163-foot mosaic of underwater and sky imagery — sea creatures at the bottom transitioning to stars and constellations at the top — created by neighborhood artists and volunteers. It's one of the most elaborate community art projects in the city.
At the top: Grandview Park, also called Turtle Hill, is an undeveloped natural area with 360-degree views that include downtown, Twin Peaks, the Pacific, and on clear days Mount Tamalpais across the bay. It's the best free view in the western neighborhoods and almost entirely unknown to tourists.
Local tip: Take the 6 or N Judah Muni lines to get to the Inner Sunset. The tiled steps are at 16th Avenue and Moraga; Grandview Park is the block further up.
## Macondray Lane (Russian Hill)
This is the wooden boardwalk staircase and lane that inspired Armistead Maupin's Barbary Lane in the Tales of the City novels. It runs along the north face of Russian Hill, connecting Taylor Street at one end to Jones Street at the other, with a middle section that is entirely pedestrian — wooden planks over the hillside, overarching trees, gardens on both sides, cats in windows.
Macondray is small (about a block and a half) but extraordinarily atmospheric. It feels genuinely hidden even though it appears on every map. It's the kind of lane that convinces you San Francisco is a small village somehow installed inside a major city.
## The Greenwich Steps (Telegraph Hill — Other Side)
While the Filbert Steps are famous, the Greenwich Steps on the other side of Coit Tower get far less attention. They drop the north-facing slope of Telegraph Hill in a more exposed, dramatic way — fewer gardens, more raw views of the bay, Alcatraz directly in front of you. If you want to see Coit Tower and the steps but avoid the crowds, take Greenwich up and Filbert down (or vice versa).
## The Urban Knoll Stairway Garden (Bernal Heights)
Bernal Heights has some of the most neighborhood-feeling stairways in the city. The hillside on the east face of Bernal Hill has a network of narrow staircases that climb through residential streets to Bernal Hill Park — an off-leash dog area with panoramic views of downtown, Mission District, and the East Bay.
The stairway gardens here are planted and maintained by residents — succulents, roses, native wildflowers. The whole thing feels like someone's backyard, except it's public. Bernal Heights is one of the most genuinely neighborhood-feeling parts of SF, and the hill makes it feel almost like a small town on the edge of the city.
## Vulcan Steps (Twin Peaks Slope, Eureka Valley)
These steps connect Ord Street at the bottom to Saturn Street above, climbing the steep slope between Eureka Valley and the Twin Peaks area. The stairway passes through a beautifully planted garden corridor. Cats, gardens, and complete silence despite being a short walk from Castro Street.
## A Few Tips for Staircase Exploration
**Shoes matter:** Many staircases have uneven risers or are wooden and can be slippery after fog or rain. Flat-soled shoes or proper walking shoes are worthwhile.
**Go in the morning:** The fog often burns off by 10–11am in these hillside neighborhoods, giving you the views that make the climb worth it.
**Bring water:** SF hills are genuinely steep. Hydrate.
**Get the book:** Adah Bakalinsky's "Stairway Walks in San Francisco" has been the local bible on this subject for decades. It covers over 30 walks incorporating the city's best stairway networks.
**The best combined route:** Filbert Steps up Telegraph Hill + a walk north along the waterfront to the Exploratorium + a loop through North Beach for coffee = one of the great half-day routes in San Francisco, almost entirely free.