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Grandview Park: A dazzling dune with an unbeatable 360-degree view
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View toward the Pacific Ocean(Photo:mdoeff)
It may be known as Turtle Hill by the locals, but Grandview Park rises in a far more imposing manner than that nickname would imply. Only the size of a city block, it offers splendid, 360-degree views over downtown San Francisco, Golden Gate Park, to the Pacific Ocean, the Marin headlands, and across to the Sutro Tower. The one-acre park covers the peak of a hill that rises to about 820 feet and is actually an outcrop of chert, which in turn, is part of the heterogeneous assemblage known as the Franciscan Formation. The park is also a dune plant community and one of the last habitats for rare species of flowers like the dune tansy, monkey flower, beach strawberry, and Franciscan wallflower.
Rock outcropping (Photo: Andrew Alden)
It’s hard to believe that the Sunset District was once made up of drifting sand dunes, and now that the park is cut off from Ocean Beach by man’s intrusive nature, the underlying chert rock is being exposed. Beyond all the geological and botanical considerations, the park also makes for quite a rendezvous point for romantics, especially with the unbeatable sunset offered from the solitary bench on top. Rough paths circumnavigate the park and lead to the summit where you will also find Monterey cypress trees. Make sure to look out for the gigantic rock outcropping at 14th Avenue and Ortega Street. It’s made of radiolarian chert, which means skeletons of one-celled ocean animals called radiolarians are embedded in the rock. There are stairways to help you navigate the open space like the long one that starts on 15th Avenue near Lawton Street.
Mosaic stairway
The artistic highlight, however, is the impressive mosaic-tiled stairway at 16th Avenue and Moraga Street that was created as a neighborhood project. More than three hundred neighbors created the 163 mosaic panels which were applied to the step risers. Even the mayor of Caltagirone, Italy, home of another set of famous ceramic steps, journeyed overseas to attend the inauguration of the eye-catching stairway in 2005. At the top of the steps is 15th Avenue, which is on two levels with steps leading to the upper level of 15th. Make sure to stay on the marked pathways to minimize erosion of an already fragile patch of the city. Grandview Park is a must-stop for aficionados of panoramic views.
Getting there: From downtown San Francisco, take the N-Judah MUNI from any downtown station. Get off at 16th Avenue, and walk south on 17th Avenue (away from Golden Gate Park) to Moraga Street and then left a short distance to 16th. You will see the mosaic stairway in front. The MUNI No. 66 bus stops at 16th and Moraga, and the No. 28 stops close by on 19th Avenue.
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