Grandview Park, also referred to as Turtle Hill by local residents, is a small, elevated

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

located on the

West Side West Side or Westside may refer to: Places Canada * West Side, a neighbourhood of Windsor, Ontario * West Side, a neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia United Kingdom * West Side, Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Westside, Birmingham ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

in the city's

Sunset District The Sunset District is a neighborhood located on the West Side of San Francisco, California, United States. Location The Sunset District is the largest neighborhood within the city and county of San Francisco. Golden Gate Park forms the neighb ...

. It is surrounded by 14th and 15th Avenues, as well as Noriega Street. Despite its small size, or about the size of a city block, the park is important

geologically Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth s ...

and

botanically Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially their anatomy, taxonomy, and ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who specialises in this field. "Plant" and "botany ...

and offers views of downtown

Golden Gate Park Golden Gate Park is an urban park between the Richmond District, San Francisco, Richmond and Sunset District, San Francisco, Sunset districts on the West Side (San Francisco), West Side of San Francisco, California, United States. It is the Lis ...

, to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, the

Marin Marin or Marín (Italian "sailor") may refer to: People * Marin (name), including a list of persons with the given name or Italian surname. * MaRin, in-game name of professional South Korean ''League of Legends'' player Jang Gyeong-hwan (born 19 ...

headlands, and across to the

Sutro Tower Sutro Tower is a unique three-legged tall TV and radio lattice tower located on the West Side (San Francisco), West Side of San Francisco, California. Rising from a hill between Twin Peaks (San Francisco), Twin Peaks and Mount Sutro near Claren ...

. The summit of Grandview Park rises to about . It is an outcrop of chert, which is part of the heterogeneous assemblage known as the Franciscan Formation, or

Franciscan Assemblage The Franciscan Complex or Franciscan Assemblage is a geologic term for a late Mesozoic terrane of heterogeneous rocks found throughout the California Coast Ranges, and particularly on the San Francisco Peninsula. It was named by geologist A ...

, the primary geologic feature on which the city of San Francisco is founded, here covered with a thin layer of sand. It provides one of the last remaining habitats within the city for a number of native plants, including the

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

Franciscan wallflower ''Erysimum franciscanum'', commonly known as the Franciscan wallflower or San Francisco wallflower, is a plant endemic to the northern California coast, from Sonoma to Santa Cruz Counties. It is a member of the genus ''Erysimum'' in the mustard ...

and dune tansy, and also

bush lupin Bush lupin or bush lupine is a common name applied to a number of shrubby species of lupin: *'' Lupinus albifrons'' Silver bush lupine *''Lupinus arboreus ''Lupinus arboreus'', the yellow bush lupine (US) or tree lupin (UK), is a species of flow ...

beach strawberry ''Fragaria chiloensis'', the beach strawberry, Chilean strawberry, or coastal strawberry, is one of two species of wild strawberry that were hybridized to create the modern garden strawberry (''F. × ananassa''). It is native to the Pacific Oce ...

, bush monkey flower, and coyote bush. The hill is crowned with

Monterey cypress ''Hesperocyparis macrocarpa'' also known as ''Cupressus macrocarpa'', or the Monterey cypress is a coniferous tree, and is one of several species of cypress trees native to California. The Monterey cypress is found naturally only on the Centr ...

trees. Because of the fragility of the environment, visitors to the park are asked to keep to paths. The 16th Avenue Tiled Steps lead up to the park.

References

External links

16th Avenue Tile Steps
- Google Maps street view including mosaic stairway and view of ocean, Golden Gate Bridge * {{San Francisco Parks in San Francisco Hills of San Francisco Sunset District, San Francisco