Having recently thoroughly enjoyed a post-with-photos by Alexandra Kenin from The Bold Italic on Facebook:
http://www.thebolditalic.com/articles/6379-5-lesser-known-dirt-roads-in-sf
... realized I'd only walked one of these “dirt roads” recently, Glen Park’s Ohlone Way, but the others not for several years; maybe passing but not actually walking them. So this got me inspired to revisit. Especially curious about how Russian Hill’s Redfield Alley and Glen Park’s Penny Lane might look now, i.e., more garden-y. These two definitely exceeded my expectations.
This, then, is Part 1 of my own leisurely explorations of those mentioned in the post and others I was aware of from my own hikes.
To get to Redfield, first passed a few Russian Hill stairways: first four pix.
Redfield is between Jones and Taylor/Filbert and Union. You enter it off Taylor; it now turns to emerge at Marion off Union.
Redfield looks like an ordinary paved alley until you get a little way in. It then turns into an unpaved gardenspot. Hang a left and surprise! Now there’s a neighbor-made stairway/garden that climbs out to another little alley, Marion, a paved walkway out to Union. I remember Marion as a dead-end; now the two alleys connect. Highly recommended!
There are two benches alongside the steps and a couple of signs that state the area is a Certified Wildlife Habitat.
Google Maps does not acknowledge Marion as a street when you enter the name. It doesn’t exist to them on Maps at all. Yet there is a street sign for Marion at 973 Union. So you can now enter off Marion, walk through the stairway garden and turn into Redfield, exiting at Taylor. And vice-versa: Redfield to Marion out at Union, pix 5 thru 20.
Redfield is shown on Streetview as coming out at Filbert (944) where it's paved and there's a short gate with a burglar alarm sign on it. Haven’t yet tried this. From the garden, however, this way looked blocked off.
Glen Park’s Penny Lane next post.
If there's anyone who hasn't yet learned of the plans to finish the artwork on the Lincoln Park steps in the Outer Richmond, here's what these steps will look like, thanks to Hidden Garden Steps. This will be San Francisco's fourth tiled stairway.
http://www.lincolnparksteps.org/index.html
http://www.thebolditalic.com/articles/6379-5-lesser-known-dirt-roads-in-sf
... realized I'd only walked one of these “dirt roads” recently, Glen Park’s Ohlone Way, but the others not for several years; maybe passing but not actually walking them. So this got me inspired to revisit. Especially curious about how Russian Hill’s Redfield Alley and Glen Park’s Penny Lane might look now, i.e., more garden-y. These two definitely exceeded my expectations.
This, then, is Part 1 of my own leisurely explorations of those mentioned in the post and others I was aware of from my own hikes.
To get to Redfield, first passed a few Russian Hill stairways: first four pix.
Redfield is between Jones and Taylor/Filbert and Union. You enter it off Taylor; it now turns to emerge at Marion off Union.
Redfield looks like an ordinary paved alley until you get a little way in. It then turns into an unpaved gardenspot. Hang a left and surprise! Now there’s a neighbor-made stairway/garden that climbs out to another little alley, Marion, a paved walkway out to Union. I remember Marion as a dead-end; now the two alleys connect. Highly recommended!
There are two benches alongside the steps and a couple of signs that state the area is a Certified Wildlife Habitat.
Google Maps does not acknowledge Marion as a street when you enter the name. It doesn’t exist to them on Maps at all. Yet there is a street sign for Marion at 973 Union. So you can now enter off Marion, walk through the stairway garden and turn into Redfield, exiting at Taylor. And vice-versa: Redfield to Marion out at Union, pix 5 thru 20.
Redfield is shown on Streetview as coming out at Filbert (944) where it's paved and there's a short gate with a burglar alarm sign on it. Haven’t yet tried this. From the garden, however, this way looked blocked off.
Glen Park’s Penny Lane next post.
If there's anyone who hasn't yet learned of the plans to finish the artwork on the Lincoln Park steps in the Outer Richmond, here's what these steps will look like, thanks to Hidden Garden Steps. This will be San Francisco's fourth tiled stairway.
http://www.lincolnparksteps.org/index.html
1. Broadway sidewalk steps up from Taylor
2. Taylor & Vallejo up to the minipark
3. Green up from Taylor partway to Jones
4. Macondray Lane steps up from Taylor
5. Redfield at Taylor
6. Redfield's paved at first
7. Into the "dirt road" part
8. Continuing ...
9. Nasturtiums and ivy
10. Delightful little green alley
11. Turn left here
12. Stairs ahead!
13. Climbing the garden steps
14. View of backyards from the garden
15. Two welcoming benches on the stairway
16. Residences on Marion at the top of the stairs
17. Two walkways on Marion with a center garden
18. The sign says "Certified Wildlife Habitat"
19. Out at Union
20. There's a street sign for Marion at its Union entrance
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