Coit Tower

Coit Tower atop Telegraph Hill is blessed with marvelous views. Farther east are the Greenwich Street Steps at the base of Coit Tower, a climb of more than three separate flights of stairs. Despite its length, this stairway is worth every inch of the climb – it winds its way through tall trees, hillside gardens and past some of the best local-area views of San Francisco Bay in The City. Benches and wide stone railings are available at different parts on the hill for those who need to rest or just want to enjoy the scenery at this spectacular vantage point.

To reach the top of 210-foot Coit Tower, there is an elevator, open daily 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., which costs under $5. Murals on its ground floor walls were painted in 1933 by some 30 local artists; each piece depicting a different aspect of the Great Depression. The glass-enclosed, exterior elevators move passengers from the lobby to the 32nd floor non-stop in less than 30 ear-popping seconds..

Wealthy socialite Lillie Hitchcock Coit so admired firemen that she bequeathed one third of her fortune in 1929 for the beautification of San Francisco. In 1934 Coit Tower (designed as a classic colonnade and never intended to actually represent a fire nozzle) was built as a memorial to her. In 1932 a bronze statue of firemen holding hoses and rescuing a damsel in distress was erected in Washington Square Park as her tribute to the city’s brave fire fighters. Coit Tower caps Telegraph Hill at the top of Filbert Street.

Address

1 Telegraph Hill Blvd
San Francisco, CA 94133

Phone

(415) 249-0995

Website

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