San Francisco is a scenic city. It just can’t help itself.
Vistas with ever-changing combinations of bridges, fog, sunlight and water can bewitch
and bemuse even the most jaded long-time resident. We all have our favorite
beguiling corners of town, but for spectacular 360-degree views, the two
hills rising in the city’s very center cannot be beat. (Except, of course, on those
days when they are entirely shrouded in fog. Even then it has its allure.)
Twin Peaks rises to 922 or so splendid feet, beaten out for
highest point in the city honors by Mount Davidson by a paltry six feet. But
though Mount Davidson might be tallest, it offers nowhere near the views.
There are many modes of transport to Twin Peaks—by car, tour
bus, or even by bicycle. But if you are willing to make the effort, getting to
the roof of the city on foot is a uniquely jubilant, exhilarating experience. Though
you might think it would be an ordeal to scale mighty Twin Peaks under your own
power, it’s really not that bad of a walk—it takes only 40 or 45 minutes. (You
might even call it a nice afternoon stroll with a bit of a hike at the end.) To
help you on your way, I will outline a route that is both scenic and the easiest
climb up the hill. After a certain
point, it’s also quiet and almost car-free, allowing a nice separation from the
hustle and bustle of the city below.
Castro Muni Station |
Walkway from station |
First off, take the Muni underground (or the scenic F-line
if you’ve got time to burn) to the Castro/Market Street station. If you’ve
never been to the Castro before, head down Castro Street to 18th,
then turn right and walk up 18th Street to get your scenic
fill. (At Eureka you’ll join up with my
preferred route.) If the Castro is old hat and you want a route with the least
hill, make a hard left coming out of the Muni station, walk along the walkway
that crosses above the station (Market Street will be directly parallel on your
right.)
Golden Winter Ginko |
Cross Collingwood, continue along Market until Eureka. Turn left on
Eureka and walk up Eureka to 20th street. On your way you may be
lucky and see some vivid golden Ginko trees, their leaves scattered like silent
haikus on the ground.
Victoriana |
Your first stairs |
At 20th Street turn right. Now you’re going to really get away from
cars. Enjoy the Victorian charm you come across. At the top of this somewhat steep little
block (at the corner of 20th and Douglass) you will see a staircase
on your left. Take it. You will pass gardens
offering blooming plants, even on New Year’s Day (the date most of these photos
were taken.)
Take these, too. |
Up you go |
At the top you will see
another staircase across the street. Take it. At the top of these stairs veer
left and walk along (and above) Douglass until Romain Street. Turn right on
Romain. Go a block and half admiring small gardens along the way. At Market Street you’ll see a barrier in the
center that prevents pedestrians from crossing.
But this is not a problem because on your right is a very pleasant
pedestrian overpass with an easy curling ramp. Take it up and over Market Street.
If you turn around, you’ll get your first glimpse of views but these are
minimal compared to what lies ahead.
Romain garden |
After the overpass you’re on a lovely quiet block with
gardens, few cars and no overhead wires. Take this to Corbett where you will
turn left. On your right will be the aptly named Rooftop Elementary School and their
sparkling glass tile murals.
The correct stairs |
Walk along Corbett to Hopkins and then turn right.
Yes, Hopkins is steep but it only lasts a block. You may see people who have just conquered
Twin Peaks walking towards you. You will know them from the rosy glow of their
satisfied faces. At the top of Hopkins, you will see a staircase. Don’t take
this! Turn left on Burnett, walk 50 yards, look right, and take the staircase
across the street you see there. This is
the first of four consecutive staircases you’ll take. This is the trek part of
your journey, although not the final hike!
Someone's always faster |
The sidewalk speaks |
The four staircases are kept swept and the foliage trimmed,
by whom (the city or the neighbors) I don’t know. If you’re lucky someone will
leave you sidewalk poetry to peruse. There will undoubtedly be someone
ascending these stairs faster than you.
(They may even be jogging up them. Your mind will boggle.) That’s all
right. Take your time. You’re almost at the top!
After the fourth staircase turn right onto Parkridge. Ahead
you will see the first sign of real wildness, what the entire hill looked like
once upon a time, a hillside covered with sage and brush. Follow Parkridge to the left as it becomes
Crestline and climbs a mild hill. When the road crests, look to your right
where you’ll see a sign with a little hiker.
It looks like:
Now for the hike part. You are entering the Twin Peaks
Natural Area managed by San Francisco Recreation and Park’s Department. These
stairs require sure footing, but they don’t last forever. You can
pause from time to time, turn slightly, and really see some views.
Wood ties invite you |
What's in your way |
Where you want to go |
At the top,
you will come to a path that runs along Twin Peaks Boulevard, the road that
snakes around our Peaks. You will see two Peaks in front of you. The one to the
north is Eureka Peak and is most popular with tourists. The one to the south, Noe Peak, is right
across the street from you, is slightly taller than its twin, and is my slight
preference, though both are fabulous. To get to either you will have to get
yourself over the concrete barrier and then cross two lanes of traffic. (You might wonder why there isn’t an opening
in the concrete barrier that would allow the many people on foot to cross
between the two clearly marked hiking paths with ease. You would not be alone in
your wonder.) Luckily the cars on this
road are few so crossing here is not difficult.
The final ascent |
Hike up the last set of wood tie stairs. At the top you get your reward--views, views,
views, every way you look. You can see
four bridges (Bay, Golden Gate, San Rafael, San Mateo), Mt Diablo, Mt Tam and
the Santa Cruz mountains. You can see
the Marin Headlands, Angel Island and Alcatraz. If it’s clear enough, you can
see the Farallons to the west and ocean freighters steaming their way to China.
As the sun descends a thousand windows in the East Bay briefly flame red with reflected light. Just after sunset pearls
of light appear on the bridges outlining traffic streaming in and out of San
Francisco.
You can see:
Or this:
Or this:
Be warned: it’s
usually windy up here. Proper attire for this walk consists of multiple layers
that you can zip and unzip as you warm up or hit windchill. This is a fabulous
place for sunsets but the wood tie stairs are not lit, so either bring a
flashlight or leave before deep darkness descends. The rest of the way down is quite well
lit—even the pedestrian overpass has decent lighting.
It doesn’t have to be a brilliantly clear day to make the
walk worthwhile. I’ve gone up half an
hour before sunset as the front arms of a storm system moved into the Bay, and
then watched the city and lower sky turn shell pink with massive grey clouds
lurking above. Fabulous.
Mission Blue wonder |
And there are other reasons to make the climb. Here, away
from cars, city noise and city smells, you have as much as chance as anywhere
in San Francisco to be in contact with the indigenous natural world of this tip
of peninsula. The air is fresh, and if there are not too many people around,
you’ll see and hear many different kinds of birds flitting among the hillside
sage and lupine. One of Twin Peaks’ claim to fame is that it is home to the endangered
Mission Blue butterfly. In fact, Twin Peaks is one of only five places in the
world where the Mission Blue butterfly is known to still exist. Evidently Mission
Blue butterflies are considered quite gorgeous by butterfly connoisseurs.
Though I have yet to see one (having only recently become a regular visitor to
Twin Peaks), since they are most likely espied between March and June I may
succeed in the upcoming months.
On your way down, if you want a real “get away
from it all in the heart of the city” experience you can connect up with the
Mt. Sutro Open Space Reserve to the north where you can hike three or four
miles through woodlands so dense only the distant roar of street noise let’s you
know you’re still in a city. Or you can go down the way you came up. After
you’ve crossed the pedestrian bridge on Romain, the shops and restaurants of
Noe Valley lie ten to twelve minutes to your right and the shops and
restaurants of the Castro await you ten to twelve minutes to your left. Since you
have just conquered Twin Peaks on your own power and stood on the rooftop of
San Francisco--an ascent you share with the ancients since humanity first
arrived on these shores--you have well-earned the rosy glow of satisfaction and
exhilarating memories of adventure that are now yours.
Suggested edit : s/Headlines/Headlands/
ReplyDeleteYes,indeed. Thanks for the catch.
DeleteKaren, we lived in Alameda for a while a few years back refitting our boat and as any sailboater knows, SF has reliable wind and fast moving bay water. Why in god's name is there no wind and water generated electricity in a city with one of the best sites for both? Think of the electrified rail you could have. Instead they wasted all that money on the Chinese built new Bay Bridge for a transportation mode with a short future. Think of this as a possible new blog post. Better you do it as a denizen than an outlander such as myself.
ReplyDeleteVery true, there are lots of energy resources we are not putting to use. I think each region of the country will shortly pay much more attention to and get creative about the resources available locally to them. The good news is Caltrain is on schedule to be electrified, all of BART's 104 miles are electric, and half of San Francisco's Muni system is electric. (But yes, we could a lot, lot more.) I can't guess the year we'll see wind turbines dotting the East Bay hills, but it's coming.
DeleteSan Francisco's real long term vulnerability at this point appears to be water. Desalination, if that is what we must ultimately resort to (after, of course, lawns and swimming pools go away) is very energy-intensive. Which means we'll have to build out our electricity generation capability even further.
Maybe because people don't want to put bird-killing windmills in a scenic area that is also a raptor migration route.
ReplyDelete