The Mosaic Stairs in San Francisco Offers Panoramic Views

Elizabeth Weintraub at Mosaic Stairs in San Francisco between 15th / 16th on Moraga.

Inspired by a San Francisco Realtor I know, a promise I made to myself came true, that the next time my husband and I had a little free time in the City, we would visit the Mosaic Stairs in San Francisco. This is an actual tourist attraction in San Francisco, although a little bit out of the way. It’s located between 15th and 16th Streets on Moraga Street. You could walk there from Golden Gate Park, but we were staying on Nob Hill, so we hailed a cab.

My husband probably would have preferred public transportation, but the area is mostly residential, and a cab ride was still 20 minutes. A word about cabs, while I’m on it. Those uber guys . . . trying to cash in and make a fast buck are not the guys I will use. For one thing, they are harming the legitimate cab business in San Francisco. Second, they don’t know the city nor the streets and navigate by solely by GPS. I would not bet my life on GPS. Would you? They do not know the fastest way to get from Point A to Point B, and on top of that, they can’t drive.

We stayed at the Mark Hopkins, and those Uber guys could not navigate the driveway into the parking lot much less out of it without a lot of hassle. Is an Uber worth it to save yourself two bucks?

Succulent garden at base of Mosaic Stairs in San Francisco

My husband could not figure out why I wanted to see the Mosaic Stairs in San Francisco, especially when he was eager for dim sum in Chinatown. Apart from the fact the tiled steps are a brilliant artistic endeavor created by more than 300 neighbors and supported by the Golden Gate Heights Neighborhood Association and sponsored by the San Francisco Parks Trust, the hillside itself is covered in beautiful succulents. Obviously maintained by caring hands.

Cabbage rose succulents at Mosaic Stairs

Some of the cabbage rose succulents are the largest I’ve seen. Apparently, some San Franciscans could not resist swiping a few plants. At the bottom of the hill we spotted a sign showing a photograph of a woman getting out of a silver Mercedes to steal the plants, of all things. Yes, shame on her. No excuse for that behavior.

People like that are unexplainable to me. Like that woman from Davis on the Sacramento Capitol Corridor train on our way home. She kept talking, very loudly, on her cellphone, so everybody in the entire car could hear her conversation. I tried to shoot a photo of her but she faced the window as though that made her behavior OK. No, it did not. Just when I was about to get up and ask her to please use her “inside voice,” the train stopped in Davis and she departed. She was a self-centered thief who robbed others of their right to quiet enjoyment.

Very top of the Mosaic Stairs in San Francisco

The day we were there, you could spot erosion at the top of the hill. Some of the plants had died, probably during a heavy rainstorm when their roots could not establish a grip in the sand. A maintenance crew had apparently laid large batting in a terraced fashion, I don’t know what you call those things but they look like cloth-covered hoses, and planted new vegetation.

Elizabeth Weintraub at top of Turtle Hill (Grand View Park) in San Francisco

When we finally reached the top of the Mosaic Stairs in San Francisco, we paused to catch our breath, and I noticed another set of stairs at the hill in front of us. What is that, I wondered? We looked it up on GPS. Grand View Park. We proceeded to climb those stairs as well, which is part of the reason my calves are still aching even today. I am wobbling around the house taking baby steps.

Panoramic view from Turtle Hill San Francisco

Locals call this place Turtle Hill, but you’ll find it on the map as Grand View Park. I was stunned to read on the sign at the bottom of the hill that this area is known as sand dune islands. That red chert you can see is radiolarian schist, formed 140 million years ago.

The park serves as a habitat to a rarely seen nickel-sized butterfly, called a green hairstreak. Development has threatened the green hairstreak, coupled with the loss of dune sands. When the sands now blow away from Turtle Hill, they are forever lost.

View to the ocean while going down the Mosaic Stairs in San Francisco

When we reached the bottom of the hill, we turned right and headed toward Lawton and 17th, and I found the street where I would live in San Francisco. I believe the neighborhood is Sunset Heights, all single-family homes, many with fabulous views. However, the prices seem to exceed a million, which is a bit too rich for a third home for us.

Elizabeth Weintraub enjoys a martini at Top of the Mark in San Francisco.

Instead, we grabbed the muni that runs down Judah and headed back toward Nob Hill. Let me add, that when your calves are aching, and you can’t win the argument of whether California Street is at a 45-degree angle without pulling out your iPhone to check the bubble level app, and you’re too tired to even do that, then grabbing the elevator to the Top of the Mark for a martini is a great solution. There is no cover charge for hotel guests.

Photos: © Elizabeth Weintraub and Adam Weintraub