San Francisco Neighborhoods · Parnassus Heights
Parnassus Heights
Fog zoneA foggy hillside where med students, eucalyptus forest, and big-sky views crowd around UCSF, wedged quietly between Cole Valley, the Haight, and the Inner Sunset.
- UCSF medical campus
- Mount Sutro forest trails
- Sweeping city views
- Steep, quiet streets
On the map
Open Parnassus Heights on the map →The story
Parnassus Avenue takes its name from Mount Parnassus of Greek myth, echoing the classical street names nearby. In 1895 Mayor Adolph Sutro donated land overlooking Golden Gate Park, and the Affiliated Colleges opened here in 1898 — the seed of today's UCSF. The medical center grew steadily up the hillside through the 20th century, while modest homes filled the steep blocks below the forested crown of Mount Sutro.
Things most people don’t know
Birthplace of UCSF
The Affiliated Colleges opened on this hill in 1898 on land donated by Adolph Sutro. They became the University of California's San Francisco campus, now a world-renowned medical school and hospital.
Mount Sutro forest
The Interior Greenbelt cloaks Mount Sutro in a dense eucalyptus forest planted under Adolph Sutro in the 1880s. UCSF maintains the roughly 60-acre Mount Sutro Open Space Reserve, laced with hiking trails.
Views above the fog
Perched high between Golden Gate Park and Twin Peaks, the upper streets deliver sweeping vistas. On clear days the outlook stretches across the city, the bay, and the Pacific.
Steep, quiet hillside
Narrow, sharply graded streets climb the slopes between the campus and the forest. The residential blocks are calm and tucked away, with shopping and dining concentrated in adjacent Cole Valley and the Inner Sunset.
The Sunset Tunnel
The N Judah Muni Metro line dives under the hill through the Sunset Tunnel, linking the area to downtown and the beach. Its eastern portal sits in Cole Valley at Carl and Cole.
Eating and drinking near Parnassus Heights
Parnassus Heights is primarily residential — these sit in Cole Valley, the Inner Sunset.
Bars
- Finnegans Wake · 937 Cole St
- The Little Shamrock · 807 Lincoln Way
- The Red Tail · 545 Irving St
Getting around and getting care
Transit. The N Judah Muni Metro runs through the Sunset Tunnel below the hill; the 6 Haight/Parnassus, 43 Masonic, and 66 Quintara buses serve the slopes.
Nearest hospital. UCSF Medical Center at Parnassus, 505 Parnassus Ave (right here)
Thinking about Parnassus 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.