San Francisco Neighborhoods · Eureka Valley
Eureka Valley
Transition zoneThe Castro's quieter uphill neighbor — Victorian-lined streets climbing toward Twin Peaks, with hidden concrete slides, grassy Kite Hill and the skyline spread out below.
- Walk to the Castro
- Quiet residential hills
- Victorian-lined streets
- Kite Hill views
On the map
Open Eureka Valley on the map →The story
Eureka Valley is the original name for the whole valley below Twin Peaks' eastern slope, the Castro's shops included; here it means the residential slopes south and west of them, south to 22nd Street and west to Clayton Street, where Market Street bends uphill toward Twin Peaks. The valley filled in during the 1880s–90s as a working-class streetcar suburb after the Market Street cable line arrived, and a cable line once hauled riders up Castro Street and over the hill to Noe Valley. Rows of wooden Victorians and Edwardians went up on its steep blocks, and many still stand. When the Castro's commercial core became world-famous in the 1970s, the streets above it stayed quieter and mostly residential.
Things most people don’t know
A name worth keeping
The name echoes California's state motto, “Eureka” — Greek for “I have found it.” It lives on in Eureka Street, which runs through the middle of the neighborhood, the Eureka Valley Recreation Center on Collingwood St and the Eureka Valley/Harvey Milk Memorial Branch Library.
Slides on Seward Street
Tucked into a tiny mini-park on Seward Street, a pair of steep concrete slides is one of the city's quirkiest hidden playgrounds — riders bring a square of cardboard to sit on.
Kite Hill
At 19th and Yukon streets, the grassy open space of Kite Hill rises above the valley, with sweeping views east over the Castro toward downtown and the bay.
A parish that opened its doors
Most Holy Redeemer, the Catholic parish at 100 Diamond St, became known during the AIDS crisis for welcoming gay parishioners and for its AIDS support group.
Spared by the 1906 fire
The fires after the 1906 earthquake were stopped a few blocks east, near Dolores Park — famously with water from the now-golden hydrant at 20th & Church — and never reached the valley's wooden Victorians.
Eating and drinking near Eureka Valley
Eureka Valley is primarily residential — these sit in the Castro.
Restaurants
- Mama Ji's · 4416 18th St
- Anchor Oyster Bar · 579 Castro St
- Poesia Osteria Italiana · 4072 18th St
- Kasa Indian Eatery · 4001 18th St
Bars
- The Mix · 4086 18th St
- Midnight Sun · 4067 18th St
- 440 Castro · 440 Castro St
- Twin Peaks Tavern · 401 Castro St
Getting around and getting care
Transit. Buses do the climbing: the 24 Divisadero runs along Castro St, the 33 Ashbury–18th along 18th St, the 35 Eureka along Eureka St and the 37 Corbett along Corbett Ave. Castro Station (Muni Metro K, L and M) and the historic F-Market streetcar are just downhill at Market & Castro.
Nearest hospital. CPMC Davies Campus, 45 Castro St at Duboce Ave (about 1 mi)
Thinking about Eureka Valley?
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.