The Lyon Street Stairs were on my Yelp list (aka collection) of things I wanted to try in San Francisco, so, on a recent day trip to the city, I decided to stop by.
Located between the Presidio and Cow Hollow, nestled in between billionaire bungalows, there are a total of nearly 300 steps.
At the bottom of the steps is a beautiful courtyard full of succulents, featuring one of the Hearts of San Francisco.
I climbed all the way down and back up the stairs. The views were pretty, but were nothing compared to my favorite Hidden Garden Steps on 15th Avenue, which is where I headed next.
While the 16th Avenue Steps just up the road are better known, I think these steps are actually prettier.
The steps have become a semi popular tourist attraction, but they started as a private community project.
Each and every tile was hand crafted by local artists Aileen Barr and Colette Crutcher. There are over 75,000 glass fragments in each staircase.
In my personal opinion, these are probably the most beautiful stairs in San Francisco.
After hiking down and back up the Hidden Garden Steps, I walked back over to the 16th Avenue Steps.
The 16th Avenue Steps made number 17 on Fodor’s list of the 20 most beautiful staircases in the world.
Most of the houses on 16th Avenue have extraordinary, immaculate succulent gardens. There are hundreds of collectors species in the neighborhood.
The mosaic steps are also surrounded by succulents, many of which were donated by the San Francisco Succulent Society.
Best of all, it seemed like everything was in bloom.
In all honesty, I enjoy the walk between the sets of steps as much as the steps themselves.
After walking up and down the 16th Avenue Stairs, I had a hunch.
Considering the distance between the 15th and 16th Avenue Steps, I was willing to bet that if I walked a few more blocks, I would find even more steps.
Sure enough, I present: the Upper 16th Avenue Steps:
While these steps are not an official tourist attraction, they seem like a natural continuance of the other flights.
These steps also featured immaculate succulent gardens meant to support native pollinator species.
The best part about these steps was that there were no other tourists up here- I had them all to myself.
The top of these steps, or even the top of the 16th Avenue Steps, is one of the best places to watch the sunset in San Francisco.
Visiting the steps is completely free.
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