SF Stairways calls it “by far the grandest of all stairways in San Francisco.” The stairway serves as an entrance into Forest Hill from Dewey Boulevard. It rises behind a manicured lawn with a large planter urn in the middle, between Magellan Avenue and the point where Pacheco Street and Dorantes Avenue meet. A much flatter stairway mirrors the layout on the other side of Dewey.
History and design
SF Stairways says the stairway was built in 1912 or 1913, when Forest Hill was first being developed. Its steps are 15 feet wide, among the widest in the city. At the bottom they form a semicircle with built-in benches on both sides. The stairway has no official name. It is often called the Pacheco stairs, though Pacheco Street winds around it to the east, and the site says the city’s only designation for it is “Unnamed 036.”
The climb
The San Francisco Chronicle calls it the centerpiece of Forest Hill, a neighborhood with seven stairways that got stairway mapper Alexandra Kenin’s top rating. The paper counts 135 steps. It suggests starting at the bottom across from the “hot tub-sized urn” and taking in the view of Sutro Tower. Then climb past old trees and climbing vines to another huge urn at the top. The paper says it “feels like old money every step of the way” and recommends the benches for a coffee or lunch after the climb.
For the tower you can see from the bottom, see our Sutro Tower story. Nearby, see our Mount Davidson guide.