Apartment Garden Blues (Blog): Gardens at the Filbert Steps in San Francisco
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- Published on Friday, June 07 2013 20:02
- Written by Alexandra Martin
During a recent trip to San Francisco, I walked up and down the famous Filbert Steps of Telegraph Hill. Three sections of stairs (supposedly totaling 284 steps) rise from Sansome Street up to Coit Tower. Not only do you have great views of the bay and the city during your hike, you will also see beautiful homes, manicured gardens, local runners (running up those steps like pros!) and maybe even a feral parrot or two.
There are many small private gardens along the stairs, but the most impressive is the public Grace Marchant Garden. This 2-acre garden is named after a former resided who cleaned up the area in the 1940s, which was filled with trash. A sign at the garden reads
Filbert Steps
Darrell Place
Napier Lame
In appreciation of Grace Marchant for her unselfish devoted energy in the beautification of Filbert Gardens.
At the end of your trek, you will end up at Coit Tower, which at 210 feet, will give you fantastic 360-degree views of the San Francisco (except on a foggy day). Lucky the 1933 art deco monument dedicated to the firefighters of San Francisco has an elevator! You can also rest a minute and see the depression-era murals inside.
For more information about the colorful feral parrots, watch the 2003 documentary The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill.
Read more about the gardens on San Francisco's Alcatraz Island, at Pier 39 and the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park.
Enjoy some photos from this gorgeous walk.
Wouldn't you just love to have a balcony with that view!?
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Alexandra Martin is a professional writer from Southern California who grows vegetables, herbs, lots of aloe vera and one giant Boston fern in her balcony garden. She also grows dracaena, pothos and English ivy indoors. She loves traveling and birdwatching in addition to gardening.
