Filbert Street Steps and Napier Lane to Levi's Plaza: The Secret Wooden Stairway

Why is it significant?

Conclude your journey by descending the enchanting wooden boardwalk of the Filbert Street Steps, dropping steeply down the precipitous eastern face of Telegraph Hill.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Conclude your journey by descending the enchanting wooden boardwalk of the Filbert Street Steps, dropping steeply down the precipitous eastern face of Telegraph Hill. This magical stairway path is one of San Francisco's best-kept secrets, winding through a subtropical jungle of blooming fuchsias, banana trees, and fragrant honeysuckle lovingly planted and tended by private homeowners over generations. Wooden footpaths bridge rocky chasms, providing breathtaking glimpses of the sparkling bay and cargo cranes between charming nineteenth-century carpenter gothic cottages.

As you step down the wooden treads, look sideways into Napier Lane, the only remaining wooden-plank street in San Francisco. Accessible only on foot, this fairy-tale boardwalk is bordered by preserved 1850s maritime cottages that survived the 1906 earthquake because firefighters and desperate residents soaked their roofs in barrels of red wine when the city water ran dry. Keep your ears open for the squawking cries of Telegraph Hill's famous flock of wild red-and-green cherry-headed conure parrots nesting in the palm trees.

Continue down past the towering quarry cliffs where Gold Rush stonecutters blasted rock for ship ballast and wharf construction, arriving at the base of the hill at Sansome Street. Here you enter Levi's Plaza, an urban park masterpiece designed in 1982 by renowned landscape architect Lawrence Halprin. Taking time to observe these surroundings reveals layers of cultural perseverance, artistic brilliance, and civic pride that continue to inspire residents and travelers alike. Taking time to observe these surroundings reveals layers of cultural perseverance, artistic brilliance, and civic pride that continue to inspire residents and travelers alike.

Halprin created a rushing mountain stream with jagged granite boulders salvaged from the Sierra Nevada, providing a soothing natural oasis right in the center of the city.

You have completed your exploration of North Beach and Telegraph Hill. Take a seat by the babbling fountains of Levi's Plaza or walk one block east to the Embarcadero to watch the ferry boats gliding across the bay.