The San Francisco Chronicle calls the Lincoln Park Steps “step-for-step” perhaps the most impressive stairway in the city. The stairway is almost as broad as it is tall, with 52 steps and a limited view. What makes it stand out is the art: hand-painted, Beaux-Arts-style tile work on the stairs and benches by local mosaic artist Aileen Barr.
From plain concrete to tile
The Chronicle says the steps were plain concrete for nearly a century, a nondescript way from the Richmond District to the Lands End Trail. They fell into disrepair in the early 2000s. SF Stairways says the tiles went in in two phases through the efforts of the Friends of Lincoln Park: the bench at the top was finished in 2010 and the stairs were tiled in 2015. The Chronicle says a neighborhood group partnered with the S.F. Parks Alliance on the project. SF Stairways says the design features plants and patterns from the natural world. Barr is also one of the two artists behind the 16th Avenue Tiled Steps and the Hidden Garden Steps.
Visiting
The steps lead into Lincoln Park, home to the Legion of Honor and the Lincoln Park golf course, and toward the Lands End coastal trail. The Chronicle suggests them as a short climb after a long bike ride.
For the history of the park’s western end, see our Lincoln Highway terminus story. For Barr’s other work, see the 16th Avenue Tiled Steps and the Hidden Garden Steps.