Ranked List
Hidden Gems in San Francisco: 11 places worth the climb
The best hidden gems in San Francisco are not on the Alcatraz ferry. Start with the Institute of Illegal Images, a private Mission house holding the world’s largest collection of LSD blotter art, free if you email ahead. Then a miniature cinema built into an alley wall with no sign on it, and a jetty out past the marina that only makes sound when the tide is in. Eleven places, ranked, all inside the city.
Last reviewed
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The world’s largest collection of LSD blotter art, thousands of inactive sheets that have survived FBI inspections and federal trials, in a private Mission house. Free, by appointment, and you email Mark McCloud to explain why you want in.
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A miniature cinema built into a Mission alley wall with no signage at all, playing silent shorts to anyone who bends down and looks through the hole. It runs day and night. Go in daylight.
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The only theater on the planet built to treat sound as a moving sculpture. You sit in the dark and it moves around you. Check the schedule, performances are the only way in.
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A jetty of pipes and salvaged cemetery marble that plays the bay back at you. It only works when the tide is in, so time it or you get a very scenic pile of stone.
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Twin concrete chutes down a residential park, and you have to bring your own cardboard. Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. They physically lock the slides on Mondays.
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A serious history of the vibrator, from Victorian medical device to appliance disguised as anything but, tucked inside a working shop. Walk in during shop hours and read the labels.
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A damp prehistoric fern dell in Golden Gate Park that picked up its nickname in the 1960s and never shook it. Directly across JFK Drive from the Conservatory, and almost everyone walks past it.
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A Goldsworthy line of fallen eucalyptus snaking through a gap in the Presidio forest, slowly rotting back into the ground on purpose. Free, near Lover’s Lane, and there are three more of his pieces nearby.
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Slides cut into a Bernal Heights hillside with a green stair corridor running up beside them, going on four decades now. Find them on the Winfield Street stairs and keep the noise down.
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163 steps rebuilt as a mosaic river running sea to sun, up a residential Sunset block. It is a real climb and it is also a butterfly corridor, so stay on the path.
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A garden built to be smelled and touched rather than looked at, planted among genuine medieval monastery stones. The paths are built for accessibility and there is a free podcast tour to download first.
Know before you go
Three of these are gated by something other than opening hours. The Institute of Illegal Images is appointment only and free, so email mark@blotterbarn.com or call 415-821-6432 well in advance and say why you are interested. The Wave Organ is only audible at high tide, so check a tide table before you commit to the 1.8-mile walk from Crissy Field, and park at the marina because the club at the end of the point is private. The Seward Street Slides run Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., are locked on Mondays, and you must bring your own cardboard. Peephole Cinema has no signage and sits in an alley, so go in daylight. The 16th Avenue steps and Esmeralda are both in quiet residential neighborhoods, so keep your voice down and stay on the paths.
Common questions
What are the best hidden gems in San Francisco?
Our top three are the Institute of Illegal Images in the Mission, the Peephole Cinema, also in the Mission, and the Audium sound theater. The first is free and by appointment, the second has no sign and runs around the clock, and the third is the only theater on earth built to move sound around a room.
Which San Francisco hidden gems are free?
The Institute of Illegal Images is free, though you have to book it. Wood Line in the Presidio is free during park hours. Peephole Cinema, the Wave Organ, Mescaline Grove, Esmeralda Slide Park and the 16th Avenue Tiled Steps are all public spaces you can simply walk up to. Seward Street asks for nothing but your own cardboard.
Where are the secret slides in San Francisco?
There are two worth the trip. Seward Street has twin concrete chutes, open Tuesday to Sunday and locked on Mondays, and you need cardboard to get any speed. Esmeralda Slide Park in Bernal Heights is the gentler one, built into the hillside off the Winfield Street stairs.
Is Alcatraz a hidden gem?
No, which is why it is not on this list. It is the most booked thing in the city and the ferry sells out days ahead. We have a guide to it, but if you want somewhere quiet, start at the top of this list instead.