Hello My Favorite People!

Yippee! We’re back after a week off. . . Thanks again for your continued support. I love working with the friends and associates you’re recommending me to and am happy to return to your inboxes!
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This Buzz covers some of my favorite views and secret spots. I’m often surprised by clients who have lived here for some years and still don’t know about the Vulcan Stairway or the view from the top of Golden Gate Heights.

Some of this is inspired by “Yvette’s Joy of Life Guides”– which are buried in the Joie de Vivre Hotels site. I don’t know who Yvette is, but she’s talented and prodigious. If you’re ever bored and looking for something different to do in San Francisco, I recommend printing all of her guides up and keeping them on hand.

Tank Hill
Tank Hill is a breathtaking promontory with spectacular views. It used to be a little known spot until some of those “Insider Tourist Guides” began to cover it. Even so, there are rarely more than two or three people there at a time.

Set high above the Castro, Tank Hill lets the eye take in an entire sweep of the City, from Point Reyes to Hunters Point. My favorite direction to look is dead east where ribbons of streets(16th, 17th, 18th) sail down and away towards Potrero Hill. This vantage point also gives you a strong sense of the City’s eastern geography.

If you’re up for an invigorating walk, I recommend approaching Tank Hill from the Haight Ashbury side. Here are the directions:

Start at Cole and Waller and head south towards Carl. This will take you through Cole Valley, one of the City’s most charming commercial districts. Shortly past Carl, hang a right on Alma, then a left on Shrader and get ready for a hefty four-block climb. At the top make a left on Belgrave and go to the end of the street. There will be a small foot path heading up to some craggy rocks where you can tuck yourself in from the wind and take in the view. .Take a picture for posterity. The skyline is going to change radically over the next ten years and it will be an unusual memento.

This link will take you a picture of just one of the great views from Tank Hill. It’s from Joseph Stubbs’ “Bandit Notes Website,” which is dedicated to surveying the most amazing natural environments in San Francisco.

Vulcan Stairway
If you’re ready to continue your afternoon hike, the Vulcan Stairs is a magical place that I love to introduce to friends. Lined with stunning gardens and turn-of-the century cottages, it’s a quiet pedestrian thoroughfare that runs from Levant to Ord Cout. I think of it as a Filbert Steps redux—shorter (just two long blocks) but better in some ways because it’s a secret spot that only locals know about. It’s also a great way to get from the Haight Ashbury down into the Castro.

To get to the Vulcan Stairs from Tank Hill, head back down Shrader Street to 17th. Then make a right and walk straight downhill for about a quarter mile. Make a left on Roosevelt, then a fairly quick right on Lower Terrace, then an even quicker left on Levant. The top of the stairway will pop up pretty quickly on your right hand side. On your way back up, you can take the Saturn Street stairs, which are almost as good.

The best photos online of the Vulcan Stairway are at Sister Betty’s San Francisco Stairways site

De Young Museum Tower
I got a lump in my throat the first time I stepped out of the elevator and saw this nearly new view from the top of the new De Young Museum Tower. Some of the drama comes from getting there. The Museum’s architecture and Golden Gate Park setting is stunning and the trip through the lobby and into the elevator makes me sentimental and proud all at the same time.

144 feet high, the De Young Museum tower’s sleek top floor offers a crows-nest-perspective of the Park Golden Gate Park. The 360-degree view encompasses everything from the Marin Headlands to the radio tower atop Twin Peaks. Access to the lobby and tower is free to the public.

To get an idea of the De Young Tower view, click on this photo from local photographer John Agoncillo.

Coastal Trail off Lincoln Park
This section of the GGNRA coastal trail offers vistas of the Pacific shoreline framed by twisting shapes of Monterey Cypress. It’s hard to believe that you’re still in San Francisco until you glance right to see the Golden Gate Bridge and the City beyond. I take out-of-towners here because they can get a snapshot of the Bridge from outside the Golden Gate instead of the standard inside view looking across to the Marin Headlands.

I like to get to the Coastal Trail from where California Street dead ends just beyond 32nd Avenue— maybe because my daughter’s alma mater, the Katherine Delmar Burke School for Girls, is there. To reach the trail, head up the stairs at the end of the block and turn right. Work your way along the path adjacent to the Golf Course and you’ll find the trail just on the other side of the El Camino Del Mar. The shoreline part begins on the other side of the 17th Fairway. If you want to get ambitious, you can take the trail the full three miles to Ocean Beach and Cliff House for more sweeping views down the coastline.

Click here to learn more about the California Coastal Trail.

May I be your tour guide?? I obviously love to show people my fair city and am blessed to do it as part of my job. I’m always delighted to introduce newcomers to the City and am happy to share with them my unique knowledge of the neighborhoods and housing styles. If you know someone who is relocating, please have them call me!
See you next week with tips on how to compete in a hot real estate market (yes we’re now back to having more buyers than sellers!)

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 22nd, 2007 at 12:00 pm and is filed under San Francisco Neighborhoods. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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