The Vulcan Stairway is one of the city’s garden stairways. SF Stairways describes terraced gardens along its lower half, with the upper half wrapped in greenery and lined with Victorian cottages. The site says the current stairs were built around 1925 and run up to Levant Street, with a short offshoot that serves the only three houses on the south side.
The name
SF Stairways says Vulcan is named for the Roman god of fire. Nearby streets follow the same theme, including Saturn and Mars streets. The south end of Levant was once called Juno, and part of Roosevelt Way was named Pluto. The site says that is almost certainly because the streets sit on the slopes of Mount Olympus, even though Olympus comes from Greek mythology.
The walk
The San Francisco Chronicle put the stairway on its list of the city’s best. It says Vulcan and the nearby Saturn Stairway link the Haight and Castro districts, and the climb feels like a walk through a hobbit neighborhood. The paper counts 209 steps. It suggests walking up Vulcan and down Saturn, which has less landscaping but better city views, then heading to Corona Heights Park. The Chronicle also asks visitors to stay on the path, since the gardens and cottages along it are private.
At Corona Heights, see the Randall Museum. For another stairway, see our Lyon Street Steps guide.