San Francisco Neighborhoods · Corona Heights
Corona Heights
also Museum HillTransition zoneA quiet residential hill between the Castro and the Haight, crowned by the rocky, chert-red Corona Heights Park with some of the city's best skyline views and home to the family-favorite Randall Museum.
- Knockout city views
- Quiet & residential
- Corona Heights Park
- Walk to the Castro
On the map
Open Corona Heights on the map →The story
The hill was once Rock Hill, site of the Gray Brothers' quarry and brick factory, which began blasting into the slope around 1899 and exposed the deep-red Franciscan chert that still defines the summit. The Gray brothers, George and Harry, ran several quarries across the city, but their substandard bricks and rough operations drew lasting complaints. In 1941, San Francisco's first Superintendent of Recreation, Josephine D. Randall, persuaded the city to buy the land for public recreation, and the renamed Corona Heights opened as a park. The Josephine D. Randall Junior Museum opened on the site in 1951 in a building by architect William Merchant, carrying forward Randall's vision of a hands-on museum for children.
Things most people don’t know
Born from a brickyard
The park's jagged red summit is exposed Franciscan chert, blasted bare by the Gray Brothers' quarry and brick factory beginning around 1899.
Randall Museum
The free Josephine D. Randall Museum at 199 Museum Way has offered hands-on science, art and nature programs for kids since opening here in 1951.
Big-city panorama
The rocky peak rises to about 520 feet, opening up sweeping views of downtown, the bay and beyond.
Off-leash hill
Corona Heights Park includes a dedicated dog play area, a playground and tennis courts alongside its trails.
A hilltop preserved
Recreation Superintendent Josephine Randall convinced the city to buy the old quarry in 1941 and turn its roughly 16 acres into public parkland.
Eating and drinking near Corona Heights
Corona Heights is primarily residential — these sit in the Castro, Cole Valley.
Bars
- Twin Peaks Tavern · 401 Castro St
- InoVino · 108B Carl St
Getting around and getting care
Transit. Muni 37-Corbett runs along Roosevelt Way past the park; the 24-Divisadero stops along Castro Street. Castro Station (Muni Metro K, L, M) and the F-Market streetcar are a short walk downhill in the Castro.
Nearest hospital. CPMC Davies Campus, 601 Duboce Ave (about 0.7 mi)
Thinking about Corona Heights?
Send me an address and I will come back with its sun, wind and fog, what is under it, and what has closed on the block.