Ina Coolbrith Park,
Great San Francisco Views!

This is one of San Francisco's coolest, hidden parks. It's kind of overlooked, but well worth a visit.

This little park is named after California's first Poet Laureate, Ina Coolbrith, and has some great views of the city skyscrapers, as well as nice views of the Bay Bridge, Alcatraz, and Coit Tower. 

This park is in the Russian Hill neighborhood, which is known for its charming, older buildings and amazing views. The curvy part of Lombard Street is here, as well as a collection of pretty parks.

Russian Hill is between Nob Hill and Fisherman's Wharf.

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And while you're here, check out some other interesting spots in the neighborhood, below:

• Macondray Lane, inspiration for Maupin's Tales of the City
• Vallejo Steps, more good views
• The house from the OA Netflix series
• The Powell/Mason cable car line

These are all within one block of Ina Coolbrith Park.

The top of the hill, where the park is built, is on Taylor Street, between Green St and Vallejo St. The stairs through the park take you down to Mason Street.

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What you can see from the park...

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Exploring the park

Ina Coolbrith Park is built on a steep hill, so you will be going down multiple flights of stairs, surrounded by the gardens, and two pathways criss-crossing the park. There are apartment buildings on either side of the park.

Keep an eye out for the cool views from the different levels.

It starts at Taylor Street at the top, and travels down to Mason Street, where the Powell/Mason Cable Car Line runs.

The park takes the place of Vallejo Street, which stops and starts again, above and below the park.

Lots of stairs!

More stairs and pathways...

Good workout!

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How to find the park

The main entrance to the park is at Taylor and Vallejo Street on Russian Hill.

The Powell/Mason cable car line has a stop at the foot of the park on Vallejo Street. 

Parking? For the brave. There's street parking, if you get lucky, but the streets around there are really steep. Some of the spots are perpendicular to the street, fortunately. But residents tend to take up most of the parking in the area, so it's a challenging neighborhood to park in. 

You can walk the 8 blocks from Fisherman's Wharf, but be warned, there is a serious hill to climb.

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More to see near the park... 

The Vallejo Stairs, the OA House, and Macondray Lane are all right near the Ina Coolbrith Park.

The Vallejo Stairs and the OA House

The Vallejo Stairs are right across the street from the Taylor Street entrance to Ina Coolbrith Park. Head up the stairs for more great city views.

The Netflix series, OA, uses the outside of the green building at 1001 Vallejo Street (the park is actually a section of Vallejo Street) as the location for the mysterious house in the TV series. It has a Vallejo Street address but it's actually facing Taylor Street.

Macondray Lane

Macondray Lane was the inspiration for Barbary Lane in the popular series of books by Armistead Maupin, Tales of the City, also made into a TV series.

This series tells the story of a group of young people living in San Francisco in the 70s, in a house at 28 Barbary Lane on Russian Hill (with a transgender landlady). 

The description of Barbary Lane in the book is recognizably Macondray Lane, and some scenes in the show were filmed there, particularly the stairs at the bottom on Taylor Street (below).

See Tales of the City on Amazon.

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Tales of the City, TV series

Mary Ann is seen arriving at 28 Barbary Lane (aka Macondray Lane) for the first time to check out an apartment. From the original 1993 TV series, Tales of the City.

The entrance to Macondray Lane on Jones Street has an archway of branches with "Macondray Lane" on it. The passageway with homes and shrubbery is level there and leads into a magical and secluded space.

At the end of the walkway through the lane, there are some steep steps going down to Taylor Street, where Mary Ann Singleton is seen climbing up, in Tales of the City.

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Explore Macondray Lane

A pretty walk along the Macondray Lane passageway, with charming houses and gardens. Open to the public.

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Who was Ina Coolbrith?

Ina Coolbrith has a remarkable history, though most people now have probably never heard of her. She lived from 1841-1928.

She was born into a Mormon family in Illinois in 1841 and was the niece of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church of Latter Day Saints.

Her mother brought her to California in a covered wagon as a 10-year old in 1852, coming over the Sierras via Beckwourth Pass with a wagon train.

They settled in Los Angeles and she later moved to San Francisco and Oakland.

She started writing poetry early and published her first book of poems when she was 15. Ina was a nickname for Josephina.

In San Francisco, she became a well-known figure in the local literary world, hosting salons for writers in her house at 1604 Taylor Street on Russian Hill. 

She socialized with Mark Twain, Ambrose Bierce, Bret Hart, and Joaquin Miller. She mentored both Jack London and Isadora Duncan. 

Her poetry was praised by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Alfred Lord Tennyson, John Greenleaf Whittier, and Ambrose Bierce (until they had a falling out and he wrote amusing but rather vicious criticisms of her poems, like complaining about "this dainty writer's tiresome lugubriousness").

Her home was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake but it was located a block from the park named after her. She was living in Oakland and working as Oakland's first librarian at the time of the earthquake. She died in 1928.

Ina Coolbrith was named the first Poet Laureate of Califonia in 1941.

Has she been forgotten? No, there's an organization dedicated to her work called the Ina Coolbrith Circle that created the Poet's Corner at the park in 1984, with a special bench and another plaque.

The Circle still has monthly meetings and around 150 members, and can be found at coolpoetry.org.

There's also a statue of Ina in Oakland, at the Henry Kaiser Memorial Park.

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History of Ina Coolbrith Park

The hillside that became the park was called Inspiration Point, already known for its great views.

The park was created in 1936 as project under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and dedicated in 1941.

You'll see a plaque on a boulder near the entrance on Taylor Street. It was placed by the Native Daughters of the Golden West in 1947 and reads that Ina was:

      "the first white child to enter California by Beckwourth Pass, in first                 covered wagon-train traveling that route, September 1852"        

It's only 0.8 acres, but packs in a lot of amazing vistas, including Alcatraz, the Bay Bridge, Coit Tower, and the downtown skyline.

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Sample Coolbrith's poetry

Ina Coolbrith published a lot of her poetry during her years living in San Francisco.

The style was characteristic of the time (Victorian), and her themes often included her love of California, as well as an appreciation of nature, and feelings of joy and loss.

Here is an excerpt from her work California, published in a book of her poetry, Songs of the Golden Gate. This was part of work she created in 1871 for a commencement ceremony for the University of California.

 Ambrose Bierce said this was one of her best poems.

If you want to sample more, see a collection of her work.

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More hidden San Francisco views

Given San Francisco's beautiful natural setting, and many hills, it's not surprising that the city has an abundance of great view spots.

Here's a selection of some other, off-the-beaten-path SF views to enjoy.

• Tank Hill  (Twin Peaks' little brother)
• Billy Goat Hill (downtown view with a swing)
• Grandview Park (360 degree view of SF in the Sunset District)
• Sutro Heights Park (Sutro's old estate above Ocean Beach)

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